Improve interoception skills through mindfulness.

Written By Lauren Loh .

Does your autistic tween or teen struggle with letting you know if they need the toilet until it hits crisis mode? or …they may be going to the toilet every few moments.
Perhaps you see your child shivering or overheating but is not aware of their body temperature.
Perhaps they could suddenly be feeling an emotion you aren’t certain where it’s stemming from.

This could be because interoceptive signals are inconsistent thus it often shows up as very small whispers or loud screams causing your child to go from 0 to crisis mode in a matter of moments.

When interoceptive signals are inconsistent it can affect your child by:

  • Emotion sensitivity: Your child may be taking on other people’s emotions as theirs.

  • Toilet trouble & chronic exhaustion: Struggling to notice their bladder is full, hunger levels, fatique or thirst. This frequently results in skipping meals until their energy level crashes, chronic exhuastion, accidentally wetting themselves, or dehydration.

  • Physical pain: Inability to feel internal physical discomfort thus it can delay medical care as pain signals are not felt until severe pain or an advanced injury.

  • Emotional dysregulation: Emotions manifests itself into physical sensations in a body. For example, tight chest, racing heart, sweaty palms, shallow breathing etc. As internal signals are dampened, your child may not realise they are overwhelmed until they shutdown or explode into a meltdown.

  • Temperature regulation: your child may be overheating or freezing which may increase risks of falling sick.

To strengthen interoception skills, you can explore practicing mindfulness and breathing excercises. Simple exercises like body-scan meditations and 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique; practiced daily can significantly improve their internal signals. When interoception skills are strengthened, it also positively affects the ability to emotionally regulate.

At our teen group program, Rhythmic Connections, we journey with autistic teens to nurture their mental and social-wellbeing through yoga, mindfulness, creative expression and social excursions. Through various modalities of mindfulness practices, we aim to equip autistic teens with life skills to care for their well-being as they blossom into adulthood.

Lauren Loh .