Tonight in the United States we make the switch to Daylight-Saving time in most locales. The change of time can have many affects on autistic people including their bodies, routine and understanding of time. This can lead to sleep struggles, Irritablility and meltdowns due to a dysregulated body. I myself have been doing quite well with the time change albeit there being some minor struggles in the process, overall I come out well when it happens.

Autistic people can have a harder time adjusting to the change as we can be very ritualistic in nauture, but if we do some things to help in that process it can make things better, including:

• Gradual Bedtime Adjustments: Although as of this writing it can be hard to do, adjust the bedtime 10-15 minutes ahead each evening before the actual act of changing clocks on Saturday Night / Sunday Morning.
• Talk about / Remind Yourself in Advance. Whether that is using a social story or just looking at the calendar reminding yourself that it is time to change the clock, whatever works for you or the person that you care for, as long as they have some understsanding that the change is going to occur, that is all that matters.
• Increase Physical Activity This can be hard with the yucky weather we are having today in Southwestern Pennsylvania, but having just a little bit more movement in preperation of the time change can help burn off that excess energy that may be carried on through the time change so that attainable sleep may be obtained.
• Adjust the Lighting.
  • Begin with natural light in the morning
  • Make the light darker earlier before bedtime.
    • Use “blackout” curtains if necessary
  • No Screens in the Bedroom. This has been a practice that I have beginning to utilize since the beginning of this year in order to focus on getting better sleep, along with Utilizing a White Noise Machine (possibly available from your insurance benefits card) to aid in the process of getting to and staying asleep through the changing sleep schedule.
• (Let Them) Take Part of the Process Although later in life those days were adjusted, I was able to adapt and understand that changing the clocks was just a part of life. I still am the one to change the clocks in my parents vehicles because of the complexity of them, but it still gave me the understanding and necessity of Daylght-Saving time and knowing that it is a part of life (for now).

Inspired by the Not Your Average Autism Mom Podcast.