Rest

Resting is an important part of life. Think about how you feel when you don’t get enough sleep. Are you able to function? I know that I’m not. Think about how your mood is affected and how you get through the day. How much sleep do you get each night? Sleep is so important for everyone.

For people on the autism spectrum, sleep is usually an issue. From getting to sleep to staying asleep can affect a person’s ability to function properly and to just get through a day.

This summer has been nice for both of our children in this regard. They have both had the opportunity to catch up on lost sleep and to be able to get some extra sleep and just rest their bodies and minds.

Rest is truly one of the most magical things in the entire earth – at least that’s what I think. Just being able to “be” in the moment and to relax is amazing.

I have found that irritability is less, frustration decreases and just being happier is so much easier with the proper rest!

We are constantly going at 500 miles per hour all the time, myself included, and we just never stop to rest. Sometimes when we put on head on the pillow at night our mind is racing with all the things we didn’t get done or have to get done the next day. For people on the autism spectrum, this can be a recipe for disaster.

For our family, summer is an important time to rest and just be as much as we can. It’s not always possible to do for a long period of time but it is important to take the time, any amount of time, when you have the chance.

Places for some people help aid the resting process. Our children both have different issues if they get too overwhelmed with pressures from their daily lives. It can be in the form of mental breakdowns and physical ones as well. The anxiety that both of our children can exhibit can be heartbreaking to watch and try to help them resolve.

Resting for our daughter, is about focusing on her art that helps her get into that mindset. For our son, going to the cottage and doing outdoor activities helps him free his mind so that he can rest and not have so many things going on in his brain that he sometimes has a hard time dealing with.

Breaking from a rigorous routine, even if just for a short time, is so very important for both physical and mental health in my humble opinion.

So whatever you can do to find some rest or whatever you have to do to help your kids on the spectrum break from the routine and just be able to rest their mind, do it! You will never regret it.