When working on developing an individual’s interoceptive awareness, individuals engage in activities that focus on inner feelings, which can make it easier to recognize, make sense of, and manage their own personal internal experiences. During our coaching process, our OT, Lynn DeMange often collaborates with other OTs and educational teams who need help supporting a student’s interoceptive awareness. In today’s Regulation Rendezvous, Lynn shared ideas for Meeting The Interoceptive Needs Of Individuals With Autism And Other Low-Incidence Disabilities.
Studies indicate that practicing becoming more aware of one's internal signals can lead to less anxiety, make it easier to understand and talk about one’s emotions, and improve one’s ability to handle their feelings.
Meeting an individual’s interoceptive needs helps them gain a deeper understanding of themselves. When developing interoceptive awareness, activities should focus on guiding individuals through a process of self-discovery. As Kelly Mahler recommends, this can be achieved through:
Paying attention to what one’s body is telling them.
Figuring out what those body signals mean.
Learning what one can do to change how their body feels
Helping individuals learn about their own unique interoception works much better than past methods that try to tell someone what they "should" be feeling. It's not accurate to say that everyone feels anxiety or hunger in the exact same way. It's different for each of us, so we need to approach it in a way that's tailored to the individual.
Autistic individuals and those with low-incidence disabilities often go through life with their inner feelings being misunderstood, labeled incorrectly, or even dismissed. They can end up feeling internally confused. Plus, the pressure to comply and fit in teaches them to ignore or hide what they're truly feeling just to please others.
So, when we work on interoception with autistic individuals or individuals with a low-incidence disability, often we need to "unlearn" some things before we can really start. This means helping each person feel calm and secure enough to start noticing, reconnecting with, and trusting what their body is telling them again. It's really important to use an approach that understands trauma and focuses on regulation when guiding someone through interoception activities. We need to constantly reassure them that there's no right or wrong way to feel, and that their own inner experience is always real and valid.
Developing interoceptive awareness can work well even for people who don't communicate verbally. To best support non-speaking individuals in understanding their interoceptive awareness, some key first steps include:
Help them feel calm and secure: Make sure the individual feels safe and regulated, both internally and with your support, so they can tune into their body.
Keep things consistent: Make the exercises predictable, use similar elements each time, and try to make them a regular part of their routine.
Use their communication methods: Adapt to how the individual communicates. This might involve using pictures or AAC devices to help them express themselves.
Believe in their ability: When interoception activities are presented in a way that fits how someone learns, they can do really well. Sometimes things won't go as expected, and that's alright. When that happens, it's better to think it's something about how we taught it, not about the individual's ability to learn.
Listen to non-speaking voices: Look for resources created by non-speaking individuals to really understand their experiences and how to best support them.
Want to learn more about interoception? Check out these resources:
Interoception Websites and Blog Posts
Interoception Journal Articles
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