The ABA & OT Podcast #5: Sensory vs. Behavior: Addressing sleep issues in infants/ toddlers

Sleeping challenges in infants and toddlers, especially those with ASD, can prove debilitating to parents. Mandy and Aditi discuss sleep patterns and disorders and give two perspectives on this complex yet essential aspect of life.

They share their personal experiences with sleep issues and define what sleep is according to sensory and behavior perspectives. Mandy and Aditi also explore how both fields approach interventions, the importance of documentation for effective intervention, and the ways to analyze factors like environment and habituation that influence a child's sleep.

HIGHLIGHTS

01:22 Shoutout to Dr. Patrick Friman

04:12 Personal experiences with sleeping challenges and methods

12:37 Discussing sleep: Two perspectives affected by culture and habituation

41:59 Integrating ABA and OT for sleep disorders

52:44 Differences between ABA and OT sleep interventions

GLOSSARY

Graduated extinction - Using longer and longer periods of time to attend to the child. 

Faded Bedtime Procedure - Pushing back bedtime from baseline measurement and keep the child awake through any means possible for a longer period so they are more likely to go to sleep.

Escape extinction - The discontinuation of negative reinforcement of a behavior.

Sensory diet - The therapeutic use of sensory activity that is embedded in the daily routine.

RESOURCES

Join our The ABA and OT Podcast Facebook Group to get access to the following resources:

Facebook group link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/397478901376425

EXTERNAL RESOURCES

Behavior Analysts to the Front! A 15-Step Tutorial on Public Speaking by Dr. Patrick C. Friman 

Sleep Assessment and Treatment Tool (SATT) by Dr. Gregory P. Hanley

Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ) by Dr. Avi Sadeh

Applied behavior analysis measurement, assessment, and treatment of sleep and sleep-related problems by Dr. James Luiselli

Occupational Therapy Practice in Sleep Management: A Review of Conceptual Models and Research Evidence by Eris C. M. Ho and Andrew M. H. Siu 

QUOTES

12:56 "Babies sleep an average of 16 hours in 24 hour period and it's reported that between 20 and 30% of children experience sleep problems and 40 to 80% of children with developmental disabilities have sleep disorders."

18:57 "Perhaps the behavior of falling asleep is reinforced by sleep. In other words, what happens before sleep, from a behavior analyst, results in sleep and that component of sleeping is partly operant and the falling asleep is the end of a chain of behavior."

28:00 "As soon as you start reinforcing any behavior that might be either syncing or blocking sensory stimuli, you add a behavioral component as well." 

39:30 "When you add in a bedtime resistance, it can come about by sleep onset delay, and then potentially you have a complex combination of both biological, circadian, and neurodevelopmental factors as well that are influenced but not solely attributable to environment and behavioral variables."

46:32 "Sensory disorders impact sleep differently. Sometimes it might be the routine leading up to bedtime which is dysregulated or perhaps the child is so overstimulated from the day that they can't settle down to go to sleep."