Function-Based Behavioral Interventions for Sleep Problems in Children and Adolescents with Autism: Summary of 41 Clinical Cases.

McLay et al. (2021) tracked 41 families who got ABA sleep help in a clinic. Each child or teen had autism and night-time sleep trouble.

Parents learned to run a plan built from a quick FBA. Plans mixed small bedroom changes, bedtime routines, and a replacement skill for the sleep-blocking behavior.

Sleep problems dropped in every case. Parents could carry out the plan and saw clear gains at home.

The study shows a parent-led, function-based package works across a large clinic sample, not just one or two kids.

Magaña et al. (2013) ran a similar in-home FBA package for three toddlers. Laurie’s 2021 set of 41 cases builds on that early model and shows it still works when you scale up.

Sirao et al. (2026) pooled many sleep trials and ranked physical exercise as the top fix, with melatonin second and behavioral plans third. That sounds like a clash, but Li counted only group trials that met strict math rules. Laurie’s real-world cases were not in that pool, so both papers can be true: exercise wins in trials, yet a tailored ABA plan still helps in clinic care.

Friedman et al. (2008) used a brief ABA plan to cut daytime sleep in one teen. Laurie extends the same logic—find the function, teach a replacement—from night problems to the whole day.

You do not need fancy gear or drugs. A short FBA plus parent coaching can give families a full night’s sleep. Start with a simple bedtime log, pick one maintaining variable, and teach the child a new way to get that need met. You can run this in any home program next week.