Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience various challenges affecting their daily lives, including sensory processing differences and sleep disturbances. A recent exploratory study published in Pediatric Health, Medicine and Therapeutics, conducted by Yuki Kondo and colleagues at the Nagano University of Health and Medicine in Japan, investigated the relationship between sleep-wake rhythms and sensory processing in school-aged children with ASD using objective sleep measurements over multiple days.
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Sleep difficulties are reported to be common among children with autism, with estimates indicating that over half of these children experience disrupted sleep. By contrast, around 20% to 25% of typically developing children face sleep problems. The researchers noted that significant life changes for children reaching school age—such as school activities, extracurricular commitments, new friendships, and digital media use—may further impact their sleep quality and schedules.
The study aimed to understand the connection between sensory processing and sleep by including children aged 6 to 9 years diagnosed with autism, recruited from a pediatric outpatient clinic in Japan. Researchers employed actigraphy, an objective method using activity monitors worn by participants, to track movement and posture continuously for at least two weeks. This method allowed estimation of key sleep metrics such as sleep timing, total sleep duration, nighttime awakenings, and sleep efficiency.
Caregivers completed the Japanese version of the Sensory Profile, a standardized questionnaire assessing children's responses to various sensory inputs. The questionnaire evaluated auditory, visual, tactile, vestibular, multisensory, and oral sensory processing, among other sensory characteristics.
Initially, 30 children were recruited for the study, but only 19 completed it due to various exclusions. These children were monitored for an average of 16.3 days, providing multiple nights of data for analysis. Although the study yielded limited evidence of significant connections between sleep variables and most aspects of sensory processing, a noteworthy finding was a positive correlation between oral sensory processing scores and the children's average wake time. This suggests that oral sensory processing traits could influence sleep-wake rhythms in some children with autism, although causality is not established.
The findings are exploratory and highlight a smaller sample size. However, they offer valuable insights into school-aged children, a group less frequently addressed in past research, most of which focused on preschool-aged children or relied on parental reports instead of objective sleep data.
Understanding sleep patterns during school years is crucial, since changes in routines and social demands can profoundly impact sleep quality. Sleep disturbances may further affect emotional regulation, behavior, and academic performance. The researchers concluded that the association between sensory processing and sleep-wake patterns remains significant during the school years, suggesting clinical implications beyond early childhood.
References: Kondo Y, et al. Pediatric Health Med Ther. 2026;17:571178 doi:10.2147/PHMT.S571178