July 2, 2026

Insomnia affects roughly 60% of autistic adults. That rate isn’t coincidental. It reflects a nervous system with a lower threshold for arousal, a circadian clock that’s harder to keep on schedule, and a maintaining cycle that sleep hygiene can’t touch. Here’s what’s driving it, and where CBT-I fits in.

It’s 3:17 a.m. You know because you just checked. Now the arithmetic starts. Clock-watching doesn’t just reflect insomnia — research shows it makes it worse, warps your sense of how long you’ve been awake, and drives sleep medication use. Here’s why it’s hard to stop, and what CBT-I does about it.