Autism and sleep. Why the night is loud.

A large proportion of Autistic people do not sleep well. The figure is sometimes quoted at sixty to eighty percent. Whatever the precise number, the experience is near universal, and it has been systematically underdiscussed.

The reasons are multiple and overlapping. Sensory thresholds that do not dim at night. Interoceptive differences that make it hard to tell the body when it is tired. Circadian rhythms that often run late, consistently, across the lifespan. Rumination that does not switch off. SPIN thinking that does not yield to bedtime. Sensory seeking bodies that do not settle without specific input. Sensory avoiding bodies that cannot tolerate the input the bed provides.