Sleep Problems - herbal medication

Many children on the Autism spectrum have problems getting to sleep at night.  My daughter has had this problem with her son for many years.  She has found a natural medication helpful.  You can find it on

http://au.iherb.com/Hyland-s-Calm-n-Restful-4-Kids-125-Quick-Dissolving-Tablets/52682#p=1&oos=1&disc=0&lc=en-US&w=hylands%20calm%20 and%20restful&rc=4&sr=null&ic=1

or you could go to the web site iherb.com and find Calm n Restful for kids.

Sweet Dreams
Heather

My child has a problem getting to sleep at night.

To help children get settled for sleep have a consistent bedtime routine.  An example would be put toys away, eat tea, clean up dishes, bath or shower, toilet visit, clean teeth, listen to story.  Older children can read in bed or listen to their music.

Some children become more excitable rather than calming down with a story.  You could sing with  them instead.

Still having problems getting to sleep?  Encourage the child to stay in bed except for a toilet visit.   You could play a taped story or relaxing music.  A night light may help.  Visualisation exercise - imagine you are playing your favourite sport and you are the star of the game.

We all have occasional night when we can't sleep but for some it is an ongoing problem.  If it continues for too long have a chat with your doctor.

If you have some ideas that have helped a poor sleeper please help another parent by adding them here.

Gettin Enough Sleep

We all require adequate sleep every night if we wish to have good concentration throughout the day.  It is generally recommended that
2 year olds need 13 hours,
3 year olds need 12 hours,
5 year olds need 11 hours,
9 year olds need 10 hours
14 year olds need 9 hours
The rest of us all need approximately 8 hours.
This varies as some children do better with more sleep and others need less sleep than their peers.

Reading daily to your child/children has great benefits.

• This is a special,close time for you both(or your family).
• Hearing stories encourages the love of reading.
• Through stories children learn about their culture and also other children's cultures.
• Watching a parent read teaches children how reading works; left to right and top to bottom.  They notice letters which make up words which are part of a sentence and that all this tells the story.
• Children who are frequently and consistently read to sometimes learn to read before starting school or are ready to learn when they start.
• Reading at bedtime calms most children ready for sleep.
• Hearing  a wide variety of stories assists with a child's imagination and also the development of empathy.
• The parent becomes aware of the child's developing interests.
• A child's vocabulary increases.
• Sharing stories about birth, death, hospital visits etc gives children the vocabulary and knowledge to ask questions or an opportunity for a discussion.

Stories can be fun, enjoyable, sad, happy, silly, scarey and/or informative.

Restricted span of focus when reading

This is one of the symptoms of Irlen Syndrome.  Parents if you find your child frequently does not recognise words after working them out several times on previously pages you need to take action.  First a visit to your local optometrist; this should be covered by medicare.  If there are no major problems then follow this with a visit to an Irlen practitioner.  You can find the nearest one to you at www.aaic.org.au or in your search engine eg Google; put Irlen your state and your town or city.

If your child has Irlen syndrome they can be helped with coloured overlays, coloured paper or best of all coloured glasses (Irlen specifically modified tints).  A good page to find out more about Irlen Syndrome is www.irlen.com 

Learning to Read

When I did my teacher training my lecturer said that a child learns to read by reading.  We learn to ride a bike by riding it; in other words practice.  This is true of many children BUT there are also children that need more, much more.

Children who can only focus on 2 or 3 letters at a time are not going to recognise words with 4 or more letters.  A child can sound out a word many times and still not recognise the word when they come to it the next time. Children with this problem need to have very good phonics skills.

The child's teacher needs to be told about this problem.  Schools can only go so far.  Your child will need you to work with him/her at home. Before school often works better than after school when they are tired.

Welcome to my blog

My name is Heather Rawlins.  Please feel free to post a question and I will get back to you as soon as I can.