Sleep Better!: A Guide to Improving Sleep for Children with Special Needs

When a child doesn't sleep well at night, it affects the whole family. And when one sleepless night turns into a pattern of sleep problems, children and parents must deal with the negative effects on behaviour, mood, social interactions, physical stamina, and performance at school or work. Children with special needs are especially vulnerable to disrupted sleep patterns and help is hard to find. Sleep Better! offers step-by-step instructions that parents and caregivers can use to help children with disabilities get the rest they need. Written by a psychologist who was inspired by many sleepless nights with his own child, this book delivers proven techniques from the author's clinical and personal experience. Using personal insights from real families who have struggled with sleepless nights, the author shows the dramatic improvements that are possible without medication. A variety of widely tested and easy-to-implement techniques are presented that are aimed at problems ranging from bedtime tantrums to night waking, and which have already helped hundreds of children with special needs. The author shows how to advise families on decreasing disturbances by changing children's schedule and diet, creating appropriate bedtime routines, customising sleep schedules, recognising problems that require medical attention, and maintaining the positive progress they make. Factors such as work and school schedules, home environments, and specific disabilities can limit treatment options, so Sleep Better! lets families customise sleep-improvement plans to their needs. A self-completed, step-by-step interview makes it easy for parents to pinpoint problems and identify the course of action that works best for their family. Convenient, compact lists lay out the pros and cons of each strategy so that plans can be reviewed quickly – weeks, months, even years after the book has first been consulted. This book will be of value to every professional who works with children, and may be the first to notice the effects of disturbed sleep on a child, and who can use this book to advise families. In this way the child, and the entire family, can be given the benefits of a good night's sleep.

Table of Contents:
About the Author. Preface. Acknowledgements. I. The Nature and Problems of Sleep. 1. An Overview of Sleep. 2. Sleep Problems. II. Assessing Sleep Problems 3. Identifying the Sleep Problem. III. Strategies for Change 4. Good Sleep Habits. 5. Help for Bedtime Problems. 6. Sleeping Through the Night. 7. Sleeping at the Wrong Times. 8. Nightmares, Sleep Terrors, and Related Sleep Problems. 9. Excessive Sleepiness. 10. Other Nighttime Difficulties. 11. Daytime Behavior Problems. 12. Sleep and Medications. 13. Preventing Sleep Problems. Appendix A. Support Groups and Associations. Appendix B. Sleep Pages on the World Wide Web. Appendix C. Accredited Sleep Disorders Centers. Appendix D. Sleep Diary and Behavior Log. Appendix E. Albany Sleep Problems Scale. Endnotes. References. Additional Readings. Index.

About the Author :
V. Mark Durand is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Albany in New York. A psychologist and researcher specialising in sleep disturbances in children with disabilities, he is also the parent of a child who had multiple sleep difficulties.

Review :
The book doesn't promise a 'quick-fix' nor does it underestimate the difficulty of undergoing years of bad sleep habits, what it does is to make you feel that you can do something about it. The good news is that the procedures recommended in Sleep Better! could well help both children and their parents to sleep better, even within a few weeks. Many of the strategies could also be adapted to help teenagers and adults with sleep problems. This is a practical and readable book written by a Professor of psychology and specialist in sleep problems for children with special needs…the practical core of this book is very relevant to psychologists, paediatricians, health-care professionals and parents in other countries. It is based on clear behavioural approaches and helps readers to understand the nature of sleep and become more systematic in dealing with sleep problems, aided by a clear rationale and useful case histories…a good starting point for intervention. I especially welcomed the references to the very individual nature of families and problems, and the need to tailor-make approaches to fit each situation. I also found the specialist advice relating to particular special needs very helpful at our Sleep Clinic. The book is user-friendly (the author had problems with his own son) and encouraging.