Behavioral assessment and faded bedtime intervention for delayed sleep-onset in an adult with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Faded bedtime has been evaluated as a behavioral intervention for delayed sleep-onset principally with children and youth who have intellectual and developmental disabilities in hospital and home settings. The present case report describes behavioral assessment and faded bedtime intervention in a 21-year old adult man with autism spectrum disorder at a community-based group home. The study also documented the effects of family home visits on the man’s sleep when he returned to the group home. Compared to a pre-intervention (baseline) phase, faded bedtime was associated with increased intervals of recorded sleep and a decrease in sleep-onset latency over several months of implementation. We discuss clinical implications of the case and generality of findings across populations and settings.

Keywords:

• autism spectrum disorder
• behavioral sleep intervention
• faded bedtime
• sleep- onset delay

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethics approval

All procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and were in accordance with U.S. Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects.

Funding

The authors declare that no funding was associated with this research.

Data availability statement

Research data are not shared.