Sleep advice with Dr. Shafali Spurling Jeste
November 21, 2017
Up to 80 percent of children with autism have insomnia, which worsens existing symptoms. Use this advice to help your child get better sleep.
When Dr. Shafali Jeste first started seeing children through UCLA’s Developmental Neurogenetics Clinic, she expected most visits to focus on the medical management of epilepsy, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, or behavioral challenges.
Jeste, a behavioral child neurologist, specializes in children with rare genetic variants and syndromes associated with autism spectrum disorder. Almost half of her patients need medication for seizures, mood disturbances or behavioral outbursts.
Yet the issue she most often must manage in these patients is insomnia – a seemingly mild problem, but one that can have a significant domino effect in these families' lives.
