I'm not sure if it comes with being an aspie, though from all the people on the spectrum I know in real life, none of them have typical wake cycles.
Like me most of them are nightowls; the ones which aren't, can't do it because of a job or something of that nature. One of my friends even does polyphasic sleep. But hey, if it works for him... I couldn't bring myself to sleep for 20 minutes every 4 hours and have a 4 hour (or so) sleep session once a day; I mean, it does mean you can run on about 5 hours of sleep a day while keeping productive. Health concerns might be a different thing though.
One of the reasons I've heard a lot with any of my peers is that all of them prefer the night because it's way more quiet. It's the time some go out for a nightly walk (probably depending on where you live as well). Personally I've found that sitting at my computer with my window open at night works pretty good for me; it provides me with some "fresh" air and there's barely any noise distracting me from what I'm doing.
I don't have issues with that I can't sleep. I usually end up sleeping within 2 minutes if I'm in bed and put my phone/tablet/tv off. So getting to sleep is the least of my problems. And unless I just have a situation of bad timing; being in one of those overly sensitive hearing phases when I sleep and something catches my hearing, I can sleep pretty tight.
Yet, because society is still a mostly daytime thing, people will consider my behavior, regardless of my reason to do so "problematic". In a way I guess, when it comes to employment it might become an issue.
A final note on sleeping though; I don't really do regular 24 hour cycles. I'll sleep when my body tells me I should rest (and that doesn't really mean my life is dictated by a 8/8/8 cycle; 8 for work, 8 for sleep and 8 for well, whatever is in between). And sometimes my body is all wide awake and hyper after 4 hours (and I've even had instances where a 15 minute powernap pulled me through the entire day) other days I'll sleep 10+ hours. I've found a decent average in about 6,5 hours with my body (which also makes me think that I can in fact "catch up" on sleep; since if I sleep for 3 hours one day, I'll pretty much sleep 10 the next). Unless I'm exhausted, I can hit the bed at midnight and wake up at 6:30 almost on the tick. Saves me from waking up and almost choking in my own saliva cause I just got aurally assaulted by my alarm.
Yes, I prefer the night to get things done. But sometimes I end up waking up at 6 in the morning and I'll have to deal with being awake in the early morning, rather than midnight. I'll try to make the best of it, but I notice a difference in functioning and productivity for sure. Schedules and a consistent rhythm never really worked for me (in any way, not just in terms of sleep). And adhering to said schedules tends to be a mess in the long run. I mean, I can force myself in a regular cycle for only so long. After about a week, my mind is all over the place and I really need to revert to my personal biorhythm devoid of any obligations I have.
That personal biorhythm however is an interesting thing when I talked to a therapist about it. Since often they will advice medication to regulate sleeping. It's not that my body or mind can't find the sweet spot to snooze (give me a comfy bed and I'll sleep). It's that I'm acting like a unproductive raving lunatic when I'm forced in schedules I have no interest or control in. For me it has to do more with regulating how functional I am in my wake cycles in relation to my sleep cycles, not the other way around, since my ability to sleep (as in the actual "action" to sleep) is not the issue.
So, do I have a sleeping disorder? Myea... depends on your perspective. I think I function fine given the situation I'm in now. It's when I have to adapt to things that don't feel natural to me that one can speak of an actual disorder, since my body and mind will reject it pretty hardcore.
