Sources

Every study and source cited across this site, in one list

This page collects the research behind the Science page and the rest of the site. Sources are grouped by topic. Where a source is commercial or informal rather than peer-reviewed, that's noted — it's included to show what motivated a design decision, not as proof of anything.

Prevalence, mechanisms & course

Sleep in Children with ASD (review) — prevalence and mechanisms. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5846201
Systematic review, 103 studies — sleep disturbances and circadian desynchronization in ASD; melatonin, clock genes, self-reinforcing loop. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6581070
National Autistic Society — Sleep, a guide for parents of autistic children (50–80%). autism.org.uk
Sleep in adults with ASD and ADHD — systematic review and meta-analysis. sciencedirect.com
CDC / ADDM 2022 data (published 2025) — prevalence 1 in 31 eight-year-olds. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12011386
ADHD and ASD co-occurrence — 50–70%, diagnosis and management. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10983102
AutismPort (Czech) — improving sleep and family quality of life in autism. autismport.cz
Sleep problems and parental well-being — comparison of families with and without autistic children. sciencedirect.com

Recommended practices & interventions

Williams Buckley et al. (2020), Neurology — AAN practice guideline: insomnia and disrupted sleep in autistic children and adolescents. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32051244
NICE guideline CG170 (UK) — autism in under-19s: individualised sleep-plan process, melatonin only after specialist review, and an explicit recommendation against omega-3 fatty acids for sleep problems. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK571989
American Academy of Pediatrics — melatonin and children's sleep: behaviour-first sequence, typical dosing range, short-term safety with long-term data still limited. healthychildren.org
American Academy of Sleep Medicine — Health Advisory on melatonin use in children and adolescents: products measured at 0.5×–4× labeled dose, undisclosed ingredients found, only 4 products carry independent verification. aasm.org
Pediatric melatonin ingestion, US poison control data (PMC9169525) — 260,435 ingestions 2012–2021 (530% increase), 4,097 hospitalisations, 2 deaths (both under age 2); not autism-specific. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9169525
Stanford Medicine Center for Sleep in Autism Spectrum Disorder — parent-facing intervention toolkit; independently describes weighted-blanket sleep-duration evidence as "mixed." med.stanford.edu/csasd
Long-term efficacy and safety of pediatric prolonged-release melatonin in ASD (52 weeks). pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6306655
Efficacy of parent training in behavioral sleep interventions (ASD / intellectual disability) — 9 of 11 studies. sciencedirect.com
Digital and telehealth behavioral sleep interventions — meta-analysis. sciencedirect.com
Autism Speaks ATN/AIR-P — Strategies to Improve Sleep in Children with Autism (parent toolkit, visual schedules). autismspeaks.org
Gringras et al. (2014), Pediatrics 134(2):298 — weighted blankets, randomised crossover trial. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25022743
Effectiveness of noise-attenuating headphones on physiological responses in ASD (n=6, electrodermal activity). pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6863142
iLs Dreampad pilot study — manufacturer-funded. scholarworks.wmich.edu

Hearing, noise & music

Parents' perception of auditory hypersensitivity in children with ASD (n=161; 67.1% / 79.8%). pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12437282
Hyperacusis in Autism Spectrum Disorders — prevalence, mechanisms, discomfort threshold, treatment, AIT. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8544234
Application of white noise in minors with ASD (n=54; 42.8% would not tolerate it). pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12292941
Hyperreactivity to weak acoustic stimuli and prolonged startle latency in children with ASD. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4008133
Progressively increased M50 responses to repeated sounds in ASD with auditory hypersensitivity (MEG). pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4108353
Reduced auditory cortical adaptation in autism spectrum disorder, eLife. elifesciences.org/articles/36493
The effect of music interventions in ASD — systematic review and meta-analysis (2025). pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12602440
Pink noise / sound therapy for hyperacusis (low-pass filtering around 5 kHz). hyperacusisfocus.org/pink-noise
MaskSound (ACM ASSETS 2024) — 19 autistic adults rated preferred sound-masking approaches; nature sounds (water, rain) ranked highest, ahead of white, brown or colored noise. researchgate.net
Sensory processing in ASD: misophonia and hyperacusis in a pediatric population. sciencedirect.com
Auditory pitch perception in ASD — systematic review and meta-analysis (22 studies, n=464). pubs.asha.org
Secondary review of autistic music-listening preferences — informal source, treat as an indication only. neurolaunch.com
Rhythmic Entrainment Intervention (REI) — commercial source with a conflict of interest. stronginstitute.com
Seamless audio loops and audible clicks (zero-crossing, OGG vs MP3, crossfade). bugnet.io
Mayo Clinic — the 60/60 rule for safer listening. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org
WHO — Safe listening (≤75 dB / ~60% of maximum volume). who.int

Predictability, attention & behavior

Neil et al. (2016) — Intolerance of Uncertainty, Sensory Sensitivities and Anxiety in Autistic and Typically Developing Children. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4860201
Anxiety linked to insistence on sameness — longitudinal, ages 6–9. autism.org
Auditory stimming and self-regulation — review, community source. neurolaunch.com
Murray, Lesser & Lawson (2005), Autism 9(2) — attention, monotropism and the diagnostic criteria for autism. journals.sagepub.com
Experiences of and treatment preferences for insomnia in autistic adults — qualitative study. sciencedirect.com
Pathological Demand Avoidance / Pervasive Drive for Autonomy — overview for parents. childmind.org
Visual timers and transitions in autism — practical overview. timetimer.com

Visual design, palette & market

Grandgeorge & Masataka (2016), Front Psychol — Atypical Color Preference in Children with ASD. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5179595
Engelhardt, Mazurek & Sohl — Bedtime Electronic Media Use and Sleep in Children with ASD. sciencedaily.com
BMC Psychiatry (2023) — 358 autistic preschoolers; screen time specifically before bed (not total daily use) predicted behaviour problems (p=0.033), partly mediated by sleep quality. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PMC10466770
Designing sensory-friendly, neurodiverse-friendly UX — overview of recommendations. uxmag.com
Designing for autistic people — overview of existing UI research. uxdesign.cc
Autism and dealing with change — consistency and predictability. seattlechildrens.org
Market size estimate for autism apps — informal source (GitHub gist), order-of-magnitude only. gist.github.com
Review of a competing "Music Therapy for Autism" app on Google Play. play.google.com
Google Play — Health Content and Services policy. support.google.com
Google Play — Health app categories and additional information. support.google.com
Practical overview of sounds to help an autistic child sleep — introducing sounds gradually, letting the child choose. neurolaunch.com

A note on how these sources are used

Sources with a commercial interest or an informal origin are marked as such above and used only to show demand, hypotheses or design direction — never as proof that something works. Where a primary study behind a secondary claim could not be located, or where a conclusion is our own judgment applied to the data (for instance, translating a color-preference study into a palette choice), that is stated plainly in the relevant article rather than left implicit.