The Autism Spectrum Disorder (asd) Is One of the Most Devastating Neurobiologic Disor- Ders of Prenatal and Postnatal Brain

1566 THE AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD) IS ONE OF THE MOST DEVASTATING NEUROBIOLOGIC DISORDERS OF PRENATAL AND POSTNATAL BRAIN development.1 The triad of difficulties or core deficits of ASD include significant impairments in social interaction, limited communication, and a restricted repertoire of behaviors, interests, and activities.2 Sleep disturbances are endemic among children with ASD; studies have estimated the prevalence of sleep disturbance as 40% to 80% in children with ASD,3-6 compared with 20% to 40% in typically developing (TD) children.7-9 Sleep disturbances can have detrimental effects on children’s cognitive development and daily functioning in areas such as attention, learning, memory, mood regulation, and behavior.10,11 These areas of cognition are among those impacted by the presence of an ASD, suggesting that sleep disturbances could further impede learning and general daily functioning in children with ASD. In addition, poor sleep in children with ASD has been shown to severely alter parents’ sleep quality and add great stress.5,12,13 In a recent consensus statement, the National Sleep Foundation, in collaboration with Best Practice Project Management, Inc., identified children with ASD as one of the highest priority populations for sleep research.14 The core deficits of ASD, and their underlying neurophysiology and neurochemistry, may predispose children with ASD to intrinsic stressors that threaten sleep. However, basic epidemiologic data on sleep behaviors and sleep quality in this vulnerable population are insufficient. Previous studies often had multiple methodologic limitations, including lack of control groups, inclusion of subjects without confirmed ASD diagnoses, small sample sizes, use of non-validated questionnaires, and few objective measures. Because of the paucity of data, management options for these complex sleep disturbances in children with ASD are often limited. Consequently, health care providers and parents may struggle to manage sleep disturbances on a trial-and-error basis. Therefore, the purpose of this descriptive cross-sectional study was to characterize the sleep behaviors and sleep quality in a well-defined ASD cohort from a regional autism center and to estimate the prevalence of sleep disturbances in children with ASD, as compared with TD children. Sleep in Children with AutiSm SpeCtrum diSorderS