Effect of sleep counseling and parental education for management of sleep-related problems in special need children: A case study

Abstract

The aim of this case study is to describe how parental sleep counseling and education can help to manage children from developing sleep disorder and improve the quality of sleep. In this case study, semi-structured behavioral intervention has been used. Children and parents of children with special needs and sleep-related difficulties were picked up from detailed developmental history taken in our center as a routine and were referred to the developmental psychologist for sleep counseling by the developmental pediatrician. The child already had a diagnosis of Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), profound global developmental delay, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Sleep disorders are commonly associated with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, ASD, and ADHD. Parents were given a semi-structured sleep counseling session and were advised to sit for a review after 2 weeks post the intervention/counseling. The major disturbances in sleep were significantly reduced along with that parents reported child's behavioral issues have improved and are more attentive now. Our case study highlights that even though a single parental education and counseling session, many of the sleep-related problems can be managed successfully enough preventing downward spiraling. This is important knowledge since sleep disorders are common in neurodevelopmental disorders described, and our simple intervention strategy seems to alleviate a number of these problems. Thus, the role of parental education and counseling can be a potentially useful tool in the management of children with special needs, some of which may be even in the form of a single semi-structured session only.