Sleep-Breathing Problems Tied To Special Education Needs

September 5, 2012

Here’s another study showing how important good breathing during sleep is when it comes to a child’s development. Researchers studied 11,000 children in England and found that those that sleep-disorderd breathing problems or other sleep problems in the first 5 years of life had significantly more special education needs at age 8. This article points out another study that I mentioned in the past, finding that infants who snore are more likely to have problems such as hyperactivity, depression and inattention.

The authors talk about lowered oxygen levels leading to potential brain damage, but even short breathing pauses that don’t lead to hypoxia can still lead to arousals that takes you out of deep sleep.

If your child has ADHD, developmental disorders or special education needs, did he or she have poor sleep as an infant or toddler?

Written by Steven Park · Filed Under Blog 
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2 Responses to “Sleep-Breathing Problems Tied To Special Education Needs”

  1. Dr. Deb on September 6th, 2012 11:57 pm

    yes. my son has autism and OSA. he has always been a poor sleeper, and could NEVER sleep on his back as an infant.

    the data show that up to 83% of autistic children have sleep problems……
    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2869.2004.00405.x/abstract;jsessionid=99BDCCD7EDE3629A482A7B9A2277D640.d02t03

  2. S. A. on September 7th, 2012 8:53 pm

    Yes, I did have SDB with adjunct ADHD, depression, anxiety. The poor attention, impulsivity snd hyperactivity impacted social and academic. My middle school was most problematic and I was set back one year, and changed to a small private school for smaller classes and individualised tutoring.
    Though, I was considered gifted at 4, my psych workup for depression and hyperactivity also included an IQ assessment of 149. So, I had potential, and confused parents, teachers and doctors with my dark circles around my eyes and laziness (EDS). My pediatrician wrote in my record “absent minded professor.” It has been many years of misdiagnosis and multi co-morbidity symptom treatments before correct dx and rx for core cause. Complaint remains active on MCI, but discover there is a divide and incomplete understanding between pt and providers on standards of assessment and therapy.

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