Hi Raine,

Actually it's very common for children on the spectrum to hallucinate. I just found this out with my son's doctors and he has been like this since a young child. They will hear and see things that are not really there. It is not odd at all if your daughter does see these things, but you can talk to her pdoc about it and see what she'd like to do. My son is on alot of meds after never being medicated his whole life. He had a psychotic break and was hearing too many voices and seeing things. I wished I had known he was having these issues when he was younger, but he just couldn't verbalize it to me. Hope this helps and take care.

My daughter is 6yrs old and nonverbal- since toddler age she would wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning a few days a week and stay up....it was horrible
At her developmental doctor appointment (maybe a year ago) I explained the issue & he prescribed her Attarax(sp) - I understood this was more or less prescription Benadryl . We tried it, for a while and it didn't work so I quit giving it to her.
Probably 4 months or so ago....I broke down and couldn't take it so I took her to the pediatrician. She suggested Risperdal.....I didn't want to medicate until she ABSOLUTELY needed it, but I was exhausted and I trust her pediatrician 100%.
Hands down....best decision I ever made!! Her middle of the night awakenings stopped almost immediately & everyone was happy. She was doing awesome at school ( no longer tired) and life was great.
Then 2 weeks ago.....she started again. Three times this week by Thursday, and I am struggling to function! Called pediatrician this morning and got an appointment for after school.
She didn't want to up the Risperdal dosage because of the weight gain ( biggest side effect 11 or 12 lbs in 3 months.....trying chlonidine tonight along with the same previous dosage of Risperdal .
Crossing my fingers for a little uninterrupted sleep....
zzzzzzzzzz.......

A lot of kids have a fear of things in the dark so it's not something unique to kids with ASD.

"Fear is a normal part of life for all of us, including young children. It tends to start when you try something new, something that you’ve never experienced before, something that is an unknown.

For kids, this happens almost every day, so fear has a lot of opportunity to rear its ugly head -- especially at night.

“The fear of the dark tends to evolve around the time children are old enough to have a sense of imagination,” says Jenn Berman, PhD, a family therapist in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Usually, the fear of the dark hits home for kids around the ages of 2 or 3, when they’re old enough to imagine, but not wise enough to distinguish fantasy from reality, Berman says."

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/fear-of...

Im so sorry. Leave a low light on in her room maybe. If u have a pet let it sleep in her room w her. Buy a video monitor w both sound and nite vision to obserb her.

nobody in my family passed away recently, and yes it is creepy.