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

From bedtime tantrums to bedwetting, sleep problems can be one of the biggest sources of worry and frustration for parents of children with special needs. Help is here in this down-to-earth, nonjudgmental guide, packed with widely tested, easy-to-use techniques that work for all children, with and without disabilities. This fully updated edition includes help for parents who usually struggle with nighttime problems. Without preaching or proposing a "one right way" to solve problems, psychologist and father Mark Durand helps families tackle sleep issues with optimism and proven strategies drawn from clinical and personal experience. A must-own for tired parents everywhere, this warm and wise guidebook will put sleep problems to bed and help whole families get the rest they need.

THE BETTER-SLEEP GUIDE FOR EVERY FAMILY:

• Highly effective strategies for children with special needs such as autism, Tourette syndrome, and cerebral palsy
• Research-based solutions to even the toughest nighttime challenges
• Tested with thousands of families
• Respects individual differences in families--offers different options to fit different parenting philosophies
• Helps parents develop a positive outlook and attitude as they work to resolve their child's challenges
• Includes help for parents who struggle with their own nighttime problems
• Flexible--parents can pick and choose strategies and modify them as needed
• Valuable background information on understanding and assessing sleep problems

PRACTICAL MATERIALS:

• Sleep Diary
• Self-Talk Log
• Behavior Log
• Sleep Problems Scale
• Plus annotated lists of additional sleep resources

SOLVE SLEEP ISSUES LIKE:

• Bedtime tantrums
• Night waking
• Sleep terrors
• Bed wetting
• Sleep schedule problems
• Sleepwalking and sleep talking
• Insomnia
• Tooth-grinding
• Periodic limb movements
  

About the Author

V. Mark Durand, Ph.D., is known worldwide as an authority in the area of autism spectrum disorders. He is a professor of psychology at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, where he was the founding Dean of Arts & Sciences and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Dr. Durand is a fellow of the American Psychological Association. He has received more than $4 million in federal funding since the beginning of his career to study the nature, assessment, and treatment of behavior problems in children with autism spectrum disorders. Before moving to Florida, he served in a variety of leadership positions at the University at Albany-State University of New York (SUNY-Albany), including Associate Director for Clinical Training for the doctoral psychology program from 1987 to 1990, Chair of the Psychology Department from 1995 to 1998, and Interim Dean of Arts and Sciences from 2001 to 2002. There he established the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities at SUNY-Albany. He received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees -- all in psychology--at Stony Brook University.

Dr. Durand was awarded the University Award for Excellence in Teaching at SUNY-Albany in 1991 and in 2007 received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Scholarship at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Dr. Durand is currently Co-editor of the Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, is a member of the Professional Advisory Board for the Autism Society of America, and is on the Board of Directors of the international Association of Positive Behavioral Support. He serves on a number of editorial boards, has reviewed for dozens of journals, and has more than 100 publications on functional communication, educational programming, and behavior therapy. His books include several best-selling textbooks on abnormal psychology, Severe Behavior Problems: A Functional Communication Training Approach (Guilford Press, 1990), Sleep Better! A Guide to Improving Sleep for Children with Special Needs (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 1998), and When Children Don't Sleep Well: Interventions for Pediatric Sleep Disorders, Therapist Guide (Oxford University Press, 2008). In his leisure time, he enjoys long-distance running and just completed his third marathon.