If you've ever wondered why some kids crash into bed at night while others seem to gain a second wind as the evening drags on, the answer may lie in a little-known sleep chemical: adenosine.

For many learners, particularly those with a history of trauma, sleep isn’t just a biological process—it’s an emotional one. Trauma can disrupt the ability to settle, feel safe, and transition into restorative sleep, making it critical for BCBAs to approach sleep programming with sensitivity and care. A trauma-informed perspective recognizes that sleep challenges are not just behavioral hurdles to overcome but are often rooted in deep emotional and physiological responses.

In the world of sleep science, there’s one hot topic that keeps grabbing headlines: screen time. It’s no secret that technology has become a massive part of our lives, and for many learners in the autism community, screens can feel like a lifeline. But when it comes to sleep, these glowing devices may be doing more harm than good.

When families come to us with concerns about their learner’s sleep, the symptoms they describe often sound like a behavior checklist:

• “They won’t stay in bed.”

• “It takes them two hours to fall asleep.”

• “They refuse to go to sleep.”

• “They come out of bed six times a night.”

As the new year inches ever closer, it’s the perfect time to reflect on 2024—a year filled with milestones, growth, and connection. Whether through training Certified Behavioral Sleep Specialists, speaking at conferences, or sharing sleep resources with thousands, 2024 has been nothing short of transformative for me and Ready Set Sleep.

If you’ve been in the ABA world long enough, chances are you’ve encountered families who co-sleep. Maybe it’s a 5-year-old who curls up in their parents’ bed every night or a 9-year-old who’s never slept alone. And every now and then, someone on the team raises an eyebrow and says, “Isn’t co-sleeping bad?”

We’ve all heard it before: “I’ll just catch up on sleep this weekend.” It sounds logical, doesn’t it? After all, a few late nights during the week can surely be balanced out by sleeping in on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, this idea doesn’t hold up under the microscope of sleep science. Sleep simply doesn’t work that way.

In partnership with Autism Feeding Specialist: Valori Neiger, MS, BCBA

Sleep and feeding are essential to overall health, but for many autistic learners, these two key aspects of daily life can often be out of sync. Poor sleep and feeding challenges are interrelated in ways that many caregivers and professionals might not fully understand.

It’s that time of year—holiday parties, family gatherings, late-night celebrations, and a flurry of events that make life richer, but let’s be real, they can also send sleep routines into a tailspin. For families supporting autistic learners, the idea of disrupted sleep might feel daunting. But here’s a refreshing perspective: it’s okay to let sleep take a back seat while you enjoy the season.

When it comes to supporting autistic learners, sleep is one of the most critical—and most overlooked—factors affecting their quality of life. Research shows that over 40% of autistic learners experience problematic sleep, including difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or achieving restorative sleep. These issues have far-reaching consequences, impacting not only the learner but also their families, caregivers, and the effectiveness of ABA interventions.

When it comes to sleep, sustainability is a fickle pickle. In most of our work as BCBAs, once a skill is achieved, maintained, and generalized, it has a high likelihood of sticking. Sure, some learned skills may see occasional dips in performance, but it’s rare to see a well-mastered skill “suddenly” vanish. However, sleep doesn’t quite fit that mold.

One of the most common pieces of advice parents hear is, “Keep a consistent bedtime.” While consistency is important, what often gets left out is that bedtime itself needs to evolve as our learners grow. Holding a 15-year-old to the same bedtime we set when they were five doesn’t take into account their biological changes and their changing sleep needs—and it can actually work against our goals for quality sleep and positive behavior.

As BCBAs, we often focus on supporting behavior and learning throughout the day, but what if one of the biggest barriers to progress is what happens at night? Sleep is an often-overlooked factor in the development and well-being of the autistic community, yet it plays a critical role in shaping their daytime behavior, emotional regulation, and ability to engage with the world around them.

As BCBAs, we know that reinforcement is everything when it comes to shaping behavior. Whether it’s teaching new skills or reducing challenging behaviors, we rely on the power of reinforcement to make meaningful progress. But what happens when sleep itself loses its reinforcing value for our learners?

As BCBAs, we’re trained to focus on observable, measurable behaviors. But here’s a question that’s often overlooked: Is sleep a behavior? And why does it matter if it is or isn’t?

At first glance, sleep may not seem like a behavior in the traditional sense...

If you’ve ever worked with a learner who is reported to “fall asleep fine” – but then wakes up multiple times a night – you know just how challenging sleep problems can be. In these cases, we often focus on bedtime routines and strategies to encourage independent sleep, but we might be missing one crucial piece of the puzzle: daytime skill-building.

 If you've ever felt like you're just another face in the crowd of behavior analysts, or if you're searching for a specialty that truly makes a difference in the lives of your learners and their families, it’s time to step into something bigger. Let me introduce you to The Sleep Collective—the signature certification program designed to set you apart in the field of ABA and give you the tools you need to transform the way we approach sleep interventions.

There’s no shortage of advice out there when it comes to helping our learners get better sleep, but not all of it is as effective as it seems. In fact, some of the most common sleep strategies can actually do more harm than good when it comes to achieving consistent, quality sleep.

Today, we’re diving into the science of sleep cycles and why they’re so important for our autistic learners. Sleep isn’t just about closing your eyes and waking up refreshed. It’s a dynamic process that involves several distinct stages, each crucial for cognitive function, emotional regulation, and overall well-being.

Let’s talk about a topic that’s often discussed (and significantly more popular with the rise of oh-so many over-the-counter options) but not always fully understood: melatonin. This hormone (yes, you read that right) plays a crucial role in regulating sleep, but when it comes to its use in sleep interventions, especially for autistic learners, there’s more to consider than meets the eye.