Durand Book Tackles Sleep Disorders in Children
Sleepwalking, sleep terrors, children who wake up screaming and banging their heads: how can parents respond to challenges like these when they themselves are suffering from lack of sleep?
That is the issue addressed by Mark Durand, a professor in the Department of Psychology, in his book Sleep Better: A Guide to Improving Sleep for Children with Special Needs (Paul H. Brookes, 1997).
There is reason for optimism, Durand’s book declares: “most people who have problems with their sleep can be helped in a meaningful way.” Written to be accessible to parents, but also meant to be used by health care and counseling professionals, the book brings together a large body of research and practical advice on the full range of sleep disorders.
“This book was born out of my personal experiences with sleeping difficulties,” Durand writes in his preface, “It is the direct result of my own son’s multiple troubles with sleep, which included problems falling asleep at night, difficulty sleeping through the night, his occasional episodes of sleep terrors . . . nightmares, sleeptalking, sleepwalking, and even bruxism (tooth grinding) during sleep.”
Durand said in conversation that his professional experience also pointed to a need for this book. “I’ve done a lot of work with severe behavioral disorders,” he said, “and have found with many of my referrals that behavior problems in the daytime are related to sleep problems at night.”
Durand is currently chair of the Department of Psychology and serves as director of the New York Autism Network, which recently won a $200,000 annual grant from the New York State Department of Education to establish four centers for autism, one of which is based at the University.
The need for a book like Sleep Better became increasingly clear in the decade that Durand and his colleagues spent working with families of special needs children, adjusting their approach to each family’s unique situation. As Durand says in his book, “Little advice was available for the parents of the boy with autism who roamed the house each night and who sometimes would climb out his window at 3:30 a.m.”
Durand said the response from parents to Sleep Better has been overwhelmingly positive. Among some professionals, the response has been “at last someone’s addressing this issue.”
Even so, there is a tendency among some therapists who are unfamiliar with the latest sleep research to downplay or even deny the importance of sleep in intervention and therapy. This professional shortcoming is compounded by the reluctance of many parents to talk about what they feel is an embarrassing problem. Durand gave the example of parents who have taken to sleeping on the floor by their children’s’ beds. Factors like these have created a gap in the treatment of sleep disorders which Durand’s book helps to fill.
Despite its emphasis on children with special needs, such as autism, mental retardation, hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder, there is a lot in Durand’s book to interest the general reader. One chapter gives an overview of our current understanding of sleep, and covers matters like how much sleep we need, the biological clock, the sleep cycle, and owls vs. larks (night people vs. early-morning people).
The book is of particular interest to parents, whether or not their children have special needs. It deals with such universal parenting issues as establishing bedtime routines and setting sleep schedules that are compatible with family life. There are worksheets and checklists to help parents pursue a plan of action. Techniques range from gradually adjusting bedtime hours to using a urine alarm for bed-wetting. One strategy for curbing nightmares involves the use of a “magic” sword or wand that the child can sleep with to ward off monsters.
Sleep Better contains valuable reference material, including a description of the effects of various sleep medications, the addresses of support groups and accredited sleep disorder centers, books for further reading, and sleep pages on the World Wide Web.
The University continues to provide a community service that grew out of Durand’s research. Parents in the capital district whose children have severe sleep disturbances can contact the psychology department by phone. If they are willing to do the requisite paperwork and to follow through, they can receive free individualized attention. This service not only contributes to the community but allows students to do consulting work and conduct research.
Durand said he believes Albany provides the only service of this kind, in which sleep disorder therapy for children with special needs is tailored to the home environment.
John LeMay