Reading the Research: Why Screen Time is Bad for Sleep

Posted on by Realistic Autistic
Welcome back to Reading the Research, where I trawl the Internet to find noteworthy research on autism and related subjects, then discuss it in brief with bits from my own life, research, and observations.

Today\’s article explains the bio-mechanical aspects of what\’s called \”circadian rhythm.\”  Basically your body\’s sense of how late in the day it is, and whether you should be awake or asleep.  When this sense is off, you can have serious sleep issues, migraines or other kinds of nasty headaches, and more effects directly linked to its dysfunction. 

One major factor in current times that can cause circadian rhythm dysfunction is screen time.  Most computer, TV, and smart device screens project a good amount of blue-white light.  (So do some headlights, Christmas lights, and those obnoxious blue-white LED light strips people use around store fronts to draw the attention…)  At present time, most people spend at least some time near bedtime looking at these sources of blue light.  Autistic people often suffer sleep disorders, including insomnia, and we also tend to be more technologically-inclined, spending time in online communities formed around our interests.  

So what\’s to be done?  Frustratingly (in my opinion), your very best option is to set aside all such sources of light at least an hour before bedtime.  Preferably two hours before bedtime.  I say \”frustratingly\” because my work and most of my leisure activities involve blue light sources.  There\’s my support tablet with scientific articles, webcomics, and e-books.  There\’s also my computer screen to write these entries, play video games with my spouse, and rarely, to check social media.  Even when I\’m out of the house, there\’s the headlights and those dratted LED light strips, which I can only hope will be made illegal soon.  

There are alternatives, of course… but they\’re not as effective as simply keeping away from blue light around bedtime.  I use a program called f.lux to modulate the light my computer screens shed.  Essentially, around bedtime, it changes the kind of light your screens give off, making it more orange and red rather than blue.  It can take a bit to adjust to, but I have started sleeping better since installing it. 

The phone/smart device is a bit harder.  F.lux has a smartphone app, but at least for my device, it requires you to have rooted the device, which means a lot of tinkering and invalidating warranties.  I suppose I shouldn\’t worry about it, this particular device has a broken screen now, and it\’s far too expensive (hundreds of dollars) to bother repairing it.

 For the time being amd instead of that, I use a less effective app called Twilight.  Rather than removing the blue light entirely from the screen, it puts the screen output through a red layer.  So it decreases how much blue light you\’re exposed to.  Better than nothing, especially since I like my e-books.  

(If you like seeing the latest autism-relevant research, visit my Twitter, which has links and brief comments on studies that didn\’t make the cut for Reading the Research articles!)

Taking Stock of Things, 2018

Posted on by Realistic Autistic
Happy New Year!

I think this Taking Stock of Things is going to be a yearly piece, at this rate.  This entry covers who I am, why I feel like I\’m qualified to write this blog, and what I hope to accomplish by doing so.  Previous years\’ Taking Stock of Things are here and here.

2018 was kind of a challenging year, between moving into the new house, doing two rounds of government work, and juggling my therapy, marriage, and dietary requirements.  Still, I seem to have survived.  So, once more:

Hi, I\’m Sarah: Aspie, artist, advocate, and perhaps most of all, aspirant. I aspire to improve myself, my situation, and (if I can) the small piece of the world I can touch. I\’m a fairly self-aware person for a person on the autism spectrum, and it\’s my goal in life to understand people and help people understand.  

It seems like a lot of people don\’t understand autism, and that leads to confusion, dismay, and frustration on all sides.  This blog is my answer to that disharmony: a chance to share perspective and ideas with people on and off the spectrum.

Quick Facts

  • A/S/L: 30 years old (Oh no, my lost youth!).  Biologically female, identifies as agender. Resident of Michigan (US).
  • Education: Graduated high school, then college, earning a BA in psychology, with a minor in information systems (business crossed with computer science).
  • Marital Status: Married for 2 years to my spouse, Chris, who still hasn\’t run out of patience with my weirdness.  Props to him.  
  • Residence: After years of renting apartments, now living in a 2 bedroom condominium (bought early last year).  The condo dues cover external care (roof, siding, lawn, snow), but internal care (carpet, walls, appliances, possessions) is our responsibility.  Since neither of us likes or is good at yard work, this suits us very well.
  • Transport: Still driving myself around in a minivan, which is all paid off as of this year, yay!
  • Diagnoses: Acquired at age 20: autism, dysthymia (low grade, long lasting depression), generalized anxiety disorder (everything makes me anxious), supremely terrible visual processing, and mild-to-moderate light, sound, and touch sensitivities.
  • Employment: Thoroughly self-employed: doing everything from pet-sitting to autism consulting.  Contact me if you\’re interested in having me speak on autism or related subjects!  Also planning on volunteering more at Autism Support of Kent County this year.
  • Dietary Weirdnesses: Low dairy (ideally, no dairy).  Conditionally vegetarian (the meat industry is horrifying), but making more allowances for local farms these days since they\’re not part of the problem.  I also need to be cutting down on sugar, because it wrecks my colon pretty good.  It\’s just so tasty and hard to avoid.

Therapy List

  • LENS (low energy neurofeedback system)- a type of passive neurofeedback.  The theory is that it changes the connection strengths in the brain, prodding your brainwaves into healthier patterns.  In practicality, it\’s lowered my anxiety levels and raised my overall mood climate.  It\’s also made it possible for me to smile for cameras, at babies, and just in general, which doesn\’t sound important until you recognize how often people smile at each other.  
  • Supplements- multivitamins are only the beginning here.  Vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, iron, time-melatonin, CoQ10, and N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) are the rest.  The vitamin/mineral sounding ones are mainly because I was deficient in them, and the melatonin is to help me sleep, but the NAC is to help detoxify my system from mold and… whatever else is in my house that\’s messing up my mental state.  There\’s something.  
  • Chiropractic care- my neck had been trying to be ramrod straight, and it was causing tension headaches and bad moods.  I\’m tapering off this particular care, because my neck now has its proper curve and I\’ve acquired proper pillows for supporting it better.  
  • Specialized Products- Mixed nut butter instead of peanut butter, a specialized electrolyte powder instead of gatorade, almond milk instead of cow\’s milk, aluminum-free deodorant, extremely gentle shampoo, and many others.  

Why Me?

Well, first and foremost, because I\’ve lived this.  I\’m autistic.  There\’s no one better qualified to discuss what it\’s like to be autistic, than an autistic person.  I know the subject in a way professionals never will.  I have firsthand experience to most parents\’ secondhand experience.  It\’s not always possible to get a clear and understandable answer on a subject from an autistic person, for various reasons… But because I\’m verbal, I can often give one.  
Second, because I have the mind and the background for the work.  I went to college for psychology, and earned my degree.  But in truth, I started studying people and systems over a decade before I attained that honor.  I knew, from a fairly young age, that I was different and didn\’t fit in.  But I had no idea why, so I set about learning what I didn\’t understand.  I was reasonably successful, considering I was trying to learn an entire curriculum\’s worth of missing information.  
Even with all that, though, I recognize my learning is never going to be over.  There\’s always new therapies being developed, and since I never had an IEP or any kind of supports in school, I missed a lot of the essential \”growing up autistic experiences.\”  I read new research and books on autism regularly, and attend a parent support group to help keep abreast of the challenges facing families with autistic people.  
Last, and most importantly, because I care.  As an undiagnosed autistic person, I suffered a great deal for lack of knowing what was going on, and why I was different.  As much as possible, I\’d like to help parents and fellow autistic people avoid that needless suffering.  Answers and help are out there.  As much as possible, I want to be part of that.  Educating people and humanizing the condition seems to me like one of the best things I can be doing right now.  
So, here I am.  Let me know if you have any questions, would like to hire an autism presenter, or if you have book recommendations.  

Legwork and Life, week of 1/2/19

Posted on by Realistic Autistic
This is Legwork and Life, where I track the legwork and opportunities in my career as an autistic advocate, and also describe parts of my adult autistic life, including my perspectives on everyday problems and situations.

Hello from the New Year, where I\’m hopeful about the coming 365 days.  2018 wasn\’t an entirely bad year, but it was very trying.  I attended two rounds of government research panels, went house-hunting with my spouse, successfully found and bought a home, and traveled for Thanksgiving.  There were plenty of not-quite-as-lifeshattering events as well, naturally.  While every life has to include some excitement, I\’m hoping this coming year will be slightly less so.  

I\’ll do a proper look into my goals from last year at a later point (I refuse to call them resolutions, since people tend to give up on those super-quickly if they don\’t succeed).  For now, though: the holidays were quite draining for not involving much travel.  The most we did travel-wise was drive to the other side of the state to see my uncle.  That\’s about 6 hours round trip, rather than the 28ish we\’ll be traveling for Christmas 2019. 

I think maybe it\’s because I got myself into a tizzy about presents this year, both in October and in December.  I got started earlier, which was good, but didn\’t get a few people\’s gifts figured out until nearly the last minute.  Which was not so great.  I can do better this year.  I think.  I hope.  I have the organizational documents from last year, anyway. 

The New Year\’s Eve party went pretty well.  I think we overbought on snacks a bit, but the small group of friends we invited seemed happy enough with our offerings.  We made Chris\’ family New Year\’s punch, which was a favorite.  Still got a good bit of that left, so I\’ll probably be drinking it for the rest of the week in addition to my usual massive glass of water. 

If anyone\’s looking for a good party game, I can now highly recommend both Jackbox Party Pack 4 and 5.  Some of our friends brought their console and copies of them.  Both games are for various consoles, and I think I\’ll have to pick them up soonish.  They feature interactive games you use your smartphone/device to play.  The game is hosted on a TV or computer screen or whichever, and everyone pulls out their phones or laptops to enter their answers or ideas.

So, the most fun game to describe might be Patently Stupid, where the game prompts you to creatively solve a funny problem people might have.  You might fill in \”cheese curds\” for \”I keep finding _____ on my doorstep.\”  Your finished problem is then given to a random other person in the group, who then has to come up with an invention to solve this problem.  They draw it on a simulated napkin, give it a name, and give it a tagline. 

The game then has each player present their idea, using the picture, name, and tagline.  Your imagination is the limit, and your drawing skills don\’t matter terribly much (seriously, I draw like an untalented 3rd grader, and it was fine).  I might, for example, decide a porch vacuuming system would be a good way to solve this problem.  So I might draw a handheld vacuum head suspended over a porch.  I could title it \”Porch Vac\” and give it the tagline, \”Problems suck, but our vacuum will help!\”  When it came time to present, I could say something about having a sorting system for dead leaves, cheese curds, packages, etc. 

Once everyone has presented, players designate \”money\” towards the ideas they like best, which gets you your score for that round.  It\’s a pretty cool idea, in my opinion, and easily repeatable with lots of different people.