sleeping in his own room

I have a 7 year old Austistic son. I noticed a change in his behavior in and out of school. I noticed this year in 1st grade he's more aggressive  and not paying attention. At home I'm noticing that same thing. I really noticed it when he all of a sudden doesn't want to sleep in his room. It's becoming very frustrated because I'm currently 9 months pregnany and can barely get comfortable myself. He will cry for hours and tell me no he's not going in his room because he's scarred.  It's like when you tell hm something he will respond but then does what he wants. we had his hearing checked and everything came out fine.Now...out of all my friends that I spoke with says what he's doing has nothing to do with Autsim it's just him being a 7 year old kid. I don't know but I'm very frustrated. Any suggestions is greatly appreciated.

[Rachel Thompson, Ph.D., BCBA]

It will be important for you to address your concerns about your son's sleep quickly given that another child is on the way. Your son will sleep in his bed if you require him to do so. Here are a few suggestions:
(1) Be sure that your son has a consistent bed time routine (e.g., bath, p.j.s, book, bed)
(2) Do what you can to reasonably ease his fears before placing him in bed (e.g., turn on a nightlight)
(3) Be sure his other needs are met (drink, potty) immediately before bedtime
(4) If he gets out of bed, simply return him with as little attention as possible
(5) It can be helpful to check in on a schedule (e.g., every 5 min) according to the clock, but not when he yells or gets out of bed
(6) Be sure to make time for attention and physical closeness outside of sleeping
(7) Be consistent and I expect that this plan will work in a few nights
Good luck