Autism

Autism Sleep Problems: Causes and What Helps

Q: Why does my autistic child have so much trouble sleeping?

Autistic children are at high risk for sleep problems. Contributors include differences in melatonin and its daily rhythm, anxiety, gastrointestinal symptoms, and sensory over-responsivity.

Why won't your autistic child sleep? How sensory processing relates to sleep, and how to build a sensory-friendly bedtime routine.

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Sensory Processing and Sleep Problems in Autism

Reviewed by Dr. Eva Lassey, PT, DPT · Last updated October 10, 2026

Autistic children are at high risk for sleep problems,⁠¹⁴ from a late body clock, anxiety, gut or breathing problems, and sensory over-responsivity.⁠^9,12,14,15 Melatonin brings sleep on about 29 minutes sooner and adds about 48 minutes, but does not reduce night waking.⁠¹ Behavioral strategies come first, after checking for conditions that disturb sleep.⁠¹³

Key Takeaways

Autistic children are at high risk for sleep problems.⁠¹⁴
Contributors include differences in melatonin and its daily rhythm,⁠¹² anxiety,⁠^11,14 gastrointestinal symptoms,⁠⁹ and sensory over-responsivity.⁠¹⁴
Sensory over-responsivity is linked to sleep problems in autistic children:⁠¹⁴ a hypersensitive child can be kept awake by a clothing tag, faint sounds, or a sliver of light, while a sensory-seeking child may toss, turn, or get out of bed looking for movement and pressure.
Adjusting the sleep environment to a child's sensory needs: seamless pajamas and soft fabrics for over-responsive children, and, for a child who seeks deep pressure, firm bedding or a snug sleeping bag — not a weighted blanket, which the evidence does not support as a sleep treatment.⁠^5,13 Plus white noise, blackout curtains, and a minimalist room.
A predictable bedtime routine followed every night is associated with better sleep in young children,⁠⁶ behavioral strategies are the recommended first step for autistic children,⁠¹³ and persistent problems warrant a visit to the pediatrician or an occupational therapist.

The house is finally quiet, but you know the night is far from over. For many parents of children with autism, bedtime isn’t a peaceful end to the day but the beginning of a nightly struggle: tossing, turning, frequent waking, and difficulty falling asleep. You’ve tried everything from warm milk to lullabies, yet a full night of restful sleep remains elusive for your child and, consequently, for you. If this sounds familiar, you are not alone: autistic children are at high risk for sleep problems.⁠¹⁴

Sensory differences are part of this. The same sensory sensitivities that can make a crowded store or a scratchy sweater overwhelming during the day don’t simply switch off at night: in 1,347 autistic children, sensory over-responsivity was linked to sleep problems.⁠¹⁴

Why do autistic children have trouble sleeping?

Sleep problems in autistic children usually have more than one cause, and guidance asks clinicians to look for the medications and coexisting conditions that can contribute.⁠¹³

One factor is a difference in circadian rhythms. The body’s internal 24-hour clock, which regulates the sleep-wake cycle, can be out of sync in autistic individuals. In a systematic review, all nine studies that measured melatonin, the hormone that signals to the body that it’s time to sleep, in autistic people found at least one abnormality, including below-average levels in seven and an abnormal daily rhythm in four.⁠¹² This can make it difficult for a child to feel tired at a conventional bedtime.

Anxiety also plays a role. In a meta-analysis of 31 studies, 39.6% of autistic children and teens had at least one anxiety disorder,⁠¹¹ and in a study of 1,347 autistic children, anxiety was associated with every type of sleep problem measured, from bedtime resistance to night waking.⁠¹⁴

Finally, autistic children have more gastrointestinal symptoms, such as constipation, diarrhea and abdominal pain, than comparison children,⁠⁹ and that discomfort can disrupt sleep. Sensory processing is another factor.⁠¹⁴

How do sensory processing differences affect sleep?

A child’s sensory system is their personal filter for the world. For an autistic child, that filter might let in too much information (over-responsivity) or not enough (under-responsivity), or the child may seek out sensation; all three are more common in autistic children than in their peers.⁠¹⁸ Sensory over-responsivity has been linked to sleep problems.⁠¹⁴

Over-Responsiveness (Hypersensitivity):
A child who is hypersensitive is easily overwhelmed by sensory input that others might not even notice, and sensory over-responsivity has been linked to sleep problems in autistic children.⁠¹⁴ At night, this can show up in several ways:

Touch: The feeling of a wrinkled sheet, a tag on their pajamas, or the texture of a blanket can be irritating enough to make it hard to get comfortable.
Sound: The faint hum of an appliance, a dog barking outside, or a floorboard creaking can feel loud and jarring.
Sight: A sliver of light coming under the door, the glow from a digital clock, or even shadows on the wall can be distracting or frightening.

Under-Responsiveness (Hyposensitivity) and Sensory Seeking:
A child who is under-responsive or seeks sensation may look for more intense input, and can be restless without it.⁠¹⁸

Proprioceptive/Vestibular: These children may have an internal need to move. They might rock, toss and turn, or get out of bed looking for movement and pressure.
Touch: A light, flimsy blanket may not give enough physical feedback, and some of these children seek the feeling of being held or squeezed.

How do I set up a sensory-friendly bedroom?

The goal is to adjust the sleep environment to meet your child’s specific sensory needs, reducing stressors for the over-responsive child and providing calming input for the under-responsive or seeking child.

1. Dial in the Touch and Pressure:

For the Hypersensitive Child: Pay close attention to bedding. Try seamless pajamas, soft, breathable fabrics like bamboo or jersey cotton, and consider removing top sheets if they cause tangling and distress.
For the Hyposensitive/Seeking Child: Deep pressure earlier in the evening — firm hugs, being rolled in a blanket while awake, heavy work before the bedtime routine — is the part with support behind it. A weighted blanket is not: in a randomized crossover trial of 73 autistic children with severe sleep problems it did not increase total sleep time, shorten sleep onset, or reduce night waking against an identical blanket of normal weight.⁠⁵ Children liked it, which is a fine reason to own one, but it is a comfort item rather than a treatment, and the 10 percent of body weight rule has no evidence behind it. If one is in the house: never for a child under two, never heavier than the child can lift off unaided, and never with a cover a child could climb inside — children’s weighted blankets have been recalled after two deaths.

2. Control the Auditory Environment:

Block Out Noise: Use a white noise machine to create a consistent, predictable soundscape that masks sudden, disruptive noises from inside or outside the house.
Add Layers of Sound Absorption: Soft furnishings like thick curtains, area rugs, and even fabric wall hangings can help dampen ambient noise and make the room acoustically softer.

3. Manage the Visuals:

Achieve Total Darkness: Use blackout curtains to block all outside light. Cover or remove any electronics with glowing lights.
Simplify the View: Reduce visual clutter around the bed.

4. Create a Calming Pre-Bedtime Routine:
A consistent bedtime routine is associated with better sleep in young children.⁠⁶ Include calming sensory activities.

“Heavy Work” Before Bed: For sensory seekers, activities like pushing a heavy box of toys, doing wall pushes, or getting a big bear hug before they get into bed.
A Warm Bath: A warm bath as one of the steps of the routine.
Gentle Massage or Joint Compressions: A few minutes of slow, firm massage on the back, arms, and legs, if your child likes it.

What bedtime routine works for an autistic child?

The same one, every night, in the same order, with the steps visible.

The evidence for a routine comes mostly from children who were not selected for autism. Mothers of 10,085 children aged five and under, across fourteen countries, were asked about bedtimes: a consistent routine was associated with falling asleep faster, waking less often and sleeping longer, and the more nights a week it was kept the stronger that association was.⁠⁶ That is a pattern across families rather than a trial, so it shows that routines and better sleep travel together — not that one produces the other.

In autistic children the evidence is thinner, and worth describing exactly. Eighty children aged two to ten with sleep onset delay had their parents taught a short course in sleep habits, and the children’s time to fall asleep improved; whether parents were taught one-to-one or in a group made no difference to the result.⁠⁷ There was no group who got nothing, so the study shows what improved, not how much of the improvement the teaching caused.

What a routine looks like for an autistic child:

A visual schedule. Pictures or words, in order, where the child can see them: dinner, bath, pajamas, teeth, two books, song, bed. Let the child move the marker.
The same order every night. Not necessarily the same time — a late body clock may genuinely need a later bedtime — but the same sequence.
Wind-down that matches the profile. For a child who seeks deep pressure, the heavy, physical part of the evening first, then the calm steps. For an over-responsive child, lights and sound coming down an hour out.
Screens off an hour before, and out of the bedroom.
The same goodnight — the same words, the same length.
The same response to every waking. Brief, boring, identical.

If the routine keeps failing at the same step, that step is the information. A child who melts down at teeth-brushing every night may be reacting to the sensations of brushing, and an occupational therapist or a sensory-aware dentist can help.

Does melatonin help autistic children sleep?

A meta-analysis of 13 randomized trials covering 682 children with neurodevelopmental conditions⁠¹ found that melatonin helped, and helped in a specific and limited way:

Total sleep time improved by about 48 minutes compared with placebo.⁠¹
Time taken to fall asleep improved by about 29 minutes.⁠¹
Night waking did not improve. There was no difference in how often children woke during the night.⁠¹

That last finding matters: in these trials melatonin helped children fall asleep and sleep longer, not wake less.⁠¹ If your child falls asleep reasonably and then is awake at two in the morning, look at the causes of night waking below.

The authors were careful about how much weight to put on this: the overall quality of the evidence is limited by heterogeneity and inconsistency between studies.⁠¹

Where the bottle goes matters as much as the dose. Melatonin is regulated as a dietary supplement rather than a medicine, which means strength is not verified the way a prescription is, and gummies look exactly like sweets. The CDC reports that pediatric melatonin ingestions rose 530% between 2012 and 2021, totaling 260,435 reported ingestions, with hospitalizations rising mainly among children aged five and under.⁠³ If melatonin is in the house, it belongs locked away with the medicines, not in the bedside drawer. Talk to your child’s clinician before starting it, and about dose, timing, and when to stop.⁠⁴

Could it be sleep apnea? What to rule out first

Before rebuilding a bedtime routine, ask about obstructive sleep apnea. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends screening all children for snoring,⁠¹⁷ guidance for autistic children asks clinicians to look for conditions that disturb sleep,⁠¹³ and treatment often cures it.⁠¹⁵

The signs: loud snoring, long pauses in breathing followed by snorts, choking or gasps, mouth breathing, restless sleep, frequent waking, sweating and bedwetting. In the daytime a child may be sleepy, irritable or hyperactive, or have trouble concentrating, signs that overlap with ADHD.⁠¹⁵

Large tonsils or adenoids are a common cause in children, and surgery to remove them often cures the condition.⁠¹⁵ If any of that sounds familiar, raise it with your pediatrician before anything else on this page. There is more on the connection between airway, sleep and daytime behavior in the mouth-body connection.

Does sleep training work for autistic children?

Behavioral strategies are the recommended first-line treatment for sleep problems in autistic children,⁠¹³ but they need adapting, and “cry it out” is not what is meant.

The broad evidence is strong. A task force for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine reviewed 52 treatment studies of bedtime problems and night waking: 94 percent of them reported that behavioral interventions worked, and more than four in five treated children showed clinically significant improvement that was still there three to six months later.⁠⁸ Those studies were of young children in general rather than autistic children, so read them as the reason the approach is worth adapting, not as a measurement of how it performs in autism.

The adaptations that matter:

Visual, not verbal. A picture schedule, and a picture of what happens on waking: the parent comes, says the same words, leaves.
Gradual, not abrupt. Move the goal in small steps — a parent’s chair a foot further from the bed every few nights — rather than in one change.
Predictable responses. The same words, the same length, every time.
Medical causes excluded first. Clinicians should look for medications and conditions such as reflux or sleep apnea that disturb sleep, and address them.⁠¹³
Teach the parents. The sleep-education study above worked on the children’s sleep by teaching their parents, not by treating the children.⁠⁷

If a behavioral plan has changed nothing in three to four weeks, go back to your pediatrician to look again for medical or sensory causes.

Why does my autistic child wake at 2 a.m.?

Night waking is the problem melatonin did not improve in trials,⁠¹ so it is worth its own list of causes.

The body clock. Differences in melatonin and its daily rhythm have been found in autistic people,⁠¹² and a child whose clock runs late may be genuinely awake.
Sensory seeking. Heavy, physical play earlier in the evening, a firm tuck, and somewhere safe to move in the room are worth trying.
Over-responsiveness. Something changed — the heating came on, a car passed, the blanket slid off. Steady white noise across the room masks the unpredictable sounds, and blackout removes the light.
Reflux or constipation. These are medical: see your pediatrician. Gut symptoms are more common in autistic children than in other children.⁠⁹
Sleep apnea. Snorts, choking or gasps, sweating, frequent waking.⁠¹⁵ Medical, and worth assessing promptly.
Restless legs. Kicking, and an inability to keep still. Ask about iron: sleep-medicine guidance is that anyone with significant restless legs should have their iron studied, including ferritin, and that in children iron is supplemented below 50 ng/mL.⁠¹⁰
Anxiety. A child old enough to worry can wake into a worry. Anxiety disorders are common alongside autism — a meta-analysis of 31 studies found around two in five young people with autism had at least one⁠¹¹ — and anxiety was associated with night waking in autistic children.⁠¹⁴ Anxiety that persists needs treating in its own right.
Habit. Behavioral treatment of night waking worked in most young children in the studies an American Academy of Sleep Medicine task force reviewed.⁠⁸ Hold the consistency above for weeks rather than days.

Early waking — up at four or five and done for the night: blackout, and a later rather than an earlier bedtime, are worth trying.

Is my child over-responsive, sensory-seeking, or both?

Bedtime advice often assumes one child: over-sensitive, needing everything quieter, darker and softer. Some autistic children are the opposite: under-responsive, or seeking sensation.⁠¹⁸

An over-responsive child may be kept awake by input: the seam in the pajamas, the hallway light, the boiler, the tag, the smell of dinner still in the house. For them, try subtraction — fewer inputs, softer fabrics, blackout, consistent low sound to mask the unpredictable kind.
An under-responsive or sensory-seeking child may need more input to settle. For them, try addition — deep pressure, firm bedding, and real physical activity earlier in the evening rather than an enforced quiet hour.
Some children are both, in different channels: over-responsive to sound and seeking pressure at the same time. That is why a profile beats a checklist.

If you do not know which pattern you are dealing with, an occupational therapist can build a profile with you.

What should I track before an appointment?

Bring two weeks of notes to a sleep appointment rather than a description from memory.

Time into bed, time actually asleep, time awake.
Night wakings: how many, how long, and what settled them.
Snoring, pauses, mouth breathing, unusual positions. Record thirty seconds on your phone if you can.
What the evening contained. Screens, food, activity, bath, anything unusual in the day.
Daytime behavior the following day.

When should I see a pediatrician, sleep specialist, or OT?

If sleep problems continue, get professional support. You should consult with your child’s doctor or a specialist if:

You have implemented sensory strategies consistently without seeing any improvement.
Your child shows signs of sleep apnea (loud snoring, gasping for air) or Restless Leg Syndrome.
The lack of sleep is severely impacting your child’s daytime mood, behavior, and ability to learn.
The sleep deprivation is causing significant stress and exhaustion for the entire family.

Your pediatrician can rule out underlying medical issues and may refer you to a pediatric sleep specialist or an occupational therapist (OT). An OT can assess sensory processing and suggest sensory strategies for the day and for bedtime.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my autistic child have so much trouble sleeping?

Autistic children are at high risk for sleep problems.⁠¹⁴ Contributors include differences in melatonin and its daily rhythm, anxiety, gastrointestinal symptoms, and sensory over-responsivity.⁠^9,11,12,14

Is it safe to use a weighted blanket for my autistic child?

Not as a sleep treatment. In a randomized crossover trial of 73 autistic children with severe sleep problems, weighted blankets did not increase total sleep time, shorten the time taken to fall asleep, or reduce night waking, measured objectively against an identical blanket of normal weight.⁠⁵ Children and parents did prefer them and they were well tolerated, so treat one as a comfort item rather than a treatment.⁠¹³ Weighted blankets for children have been recalled after two young children died entrapped inside a zippered cover,⁠¹⁶ so never use one for a child under two, never one the child cannot lift off unaided, and never one with a cover a child could climb inside.

How can I set up my child's bedroom to help them sleep?

Tailor the room to your child's sensory needs by managing touch, sound, and light: try seamless pajamas and soft fabrics for an over-responsive child, or firm bedding or a snug sleeping bag for a sensory seeker — a weighted blanket did not improve sleep in a trial.⁠⁵ Use a white noise machine, blackout curtains, and reduce visual clutter.

Can melatonin supplements help my child sleep?

In trials, melatonin helped children with neurodevelopmental conditions fall asleep about 29 minutes sooner and sleep about 48 minutes longer, without reducing night waking.⁠¹ Guidance for autistic children offers it after behavioral strategies and contributing conditions have been addressed, starting with a low dose.⁠¹³ Use it only under a doctor's guidance on dose and timing.

When should I get professional help for my child's sleep problems?

Consult your child's doctor or a specialist if consistent sensory strategies bring no improvement, if your child shows signs of sleep apnea (loud snoring, gasping for air) or Restless Leg Syndrome, or if the lack of sleep is seriously affecting their daytime mood, behavior, and learning or causing significant stress for the family. Your pediatrician can rule out medical issues and may refer you to a sleep specialist or occupational therapist.

Does melatonin stop night waking?

No. In a meta-analysis of 13 randomized trials covering 682 children with neurodevelopmental conditions, melatonin improved total sleep time by about 48 minutes and time to fall asleep by about 29 minutes, but night waking did not improve.⁠¹

Could my autistic child’s sleep problem be sleep apnea?

It is worth asking about. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends screening all children for snoring.⁠¹⁷ The signs are loud snoring, long pauses in breathing followed by snorts, choking or gasps, mouth breathing, restless sleep, frequent waking, sweating and bedwetting; in the daytime a child may be sleepy, irritable or hyperactive, or have trouble concentrating. Large tonsils or adenoids are a common cause, and surgery to remove them often cures it.⁠¹⁵

What should I track before a sleep appointment?

Two weeks of notes: the time into bed, the time actually asleep and the time awake; night wakings, how many, how long and what settled them; snoring, pauses, mouth breathing or unusual positions, ideally with a thirty-second phone recording; what the evening contained; and the next day’s behavior.

Sources

Abdelgadir IS, Gordon MA, Akobeng AK. "Melatonin for the management of sleep problems in children with neurodevelopmental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis." Archives of Disease in Childhood, 2018. A systematic review of randomized trials, and the reason this page treats melatonin as a discussion to have with a clinician rather than a first step. doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2017-314181
Miller LJ, Anzalone ME, Lane SJ, Cermak SA, Osten ET. "Concept Evolution in Sensory Integration: A Proposed Nosology for Diagnosis." American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2007. Where the over-responsive and under-responsive language used throughout this page comes from. doi.org/10.5014/ajot.61.2.135
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pediatric Melatonin Ingestions — United States, 2012–2021. MMWR. cdc.gov. Checked August 22, 2026.
American Academy of Pediatrics. Melatonin for Kids: What Parents Should Know About This Sleep Aid. healthychildren.org. Checked August 22, 2026.
Gringras P, Green D, Wright B, et al. "Weighted blankets and sleep in autistic children — a randomized controlled trial." Pediatrics, 2014. The trial this page relies on for the weighted-blanket answer: no improvement on any objective or subjective sleep measure against an identical control blanket, with children and parents preferring the weighted version. doi.org/10.1542/peds.2013-4285
Mindell JA, Li AM, Sadeh A, Kwon R, Goh DYT. “Bedtime routines for young children: a dose-dependent association with sleep outcomes.” Sleep, 2015;38(5):717–22. Mothers of 10,085 children aged 0–5 in fourteen countries. Cross-sectional, so an association rather than a measured effect, and the children were not selected for autism. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25325483
Malow BA, Adkins KW, Reynolds A, et al. “Parent-based sleep education for children with autism spectrum disorders.” Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2014;44(1):216–28. Eighty children aged 2–10 with autism and sleep onset delay. What was randomised is whether parents were taught individually or in a group; mode of education did not affect outcomes. There was no untreated comparison group, so this page describes what improved rather than attributing the improvement. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23754339
Mindell JA, Kuhn B, Lewin DS, Meltzer LJ, Sadeh A; American Academy of Sleep Medicine. “Behavioral treatment of bedtime problems and night wakings in infants and young children.” Sleep, 2006;29(10):1263–76. Task force review of 52 treatment studies: 94% reported the interventions were efficacious, and over 80% of treated children showed clinically significant improvement maintained for three to six months. Young children generally, not autistic children. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17068979
McElhanon BO, McCracken C, Karpen S, Sharp WG. “Gastrointestinal symptoms in autism spectrum disorder: a meta-analysis.” Pediatrics, 2014;133(5):872–83. Fifteen studies. General GI symptoms were more likely in children with autism, odds ratio 4.42 (95% CI 1.90–10.28); also constipation, diarrhea and abdominal pain. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24777214
Winkelman JW, Berkowski JA, DelRosso LM, et al. “Treatment of restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline.” Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2025;21(1):137–152. Good-practice statement: test serum iron studies including ferritin in all patients with clinically significant RLS; in children, supplement below a serum ferritin of 50 ng/mL. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39324694
van Steensel FJA, Bögels SM, Perrin S. “Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents with autistic spectrum disorders: a meta-analysis.” Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 2011;14(3):302–17. Thirty-one studies, 2,121 young people under 18. 39.6% had at least one comorbid anxiety disorder — specific phobia 29.8%, OCD 17.4%, social anxiety 16.6%. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21735077
Rossignol DA, Frye RE. “Melatonin in autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 2011;53(9):783–92. Thirty-five studies; the nine that measured melatonin or its metabolites in autism all reported at least one abnormality, including below-average levels in seven and an abnormal melatonin circadian rhythm in four. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21518346
Williams Buckley A, Hirtz D, Oskoui M, et al. “Practice guideline: Treatment for insomnia and disrupted sleep behavior in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.” Neurology, 2020;94(9):392–404. American Academy of Neurology: assess for medications and coexisting conditions that could contribute; behavioral strategies as a first-line approach; offer melatonin if behavioral strategies have not helped and contributing conditions have been addressed, starting with a low dose; no evidence to support the routine use of weighted blankets. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32051244
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MedlinePlus (US National Library of Medicine). Pediatric sleep apnea. medlineplus.gov. Checked October 30, 2026. Narrow airway “often because of large tonsils or adenoids”; night and daytime symptoms; “Surgery to remove the tonsils and adenoids often cures the condition in children.”
US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Target Recalls Children’s Pillowfort Weighted Blankets Due to Asphyxiation Hazard; Two Fatalities Reported. December 22, 2022. cpsc.gov. Checked October 30, 2026. “A young child can become entrapped by unzipping and entering the blanket”; a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old died.
Marcus CL, Brooks LJ, Draper KA, et al. “Diagnosis and management of childhood obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.” Pediatrics, 2012;130(3):576–84. American Academy of Pediatrics: “All children/adolescents should be screened for snoring”; adenotonsillectomy is the first-line treatment where the tonsils and adenoids are enlarged. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22926173
Ben-Sasson A, Hen L, Fluss R, Cermak SA, Engel-Yeger B, Gal E. “A meta-analysis of sensory modulation symptoms in individuals with autism spectrum disorders.” Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2009;39(1):1–11. Fourteen studies: the largest differences from typical groups were in under-responsivity, then over-responsivity and sensation seeking. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18512135

Medical disclaimer. This page is for general educational purposes and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider about your child. Poison Control: 1-800-222-1222.