11/10/2025
🌿 Interoception: Helping Children Understand Their “Hidden Sense” 🌿
At Mayflower Early ABA Services, we believe meaningful progress starts with connection — and that includes helping children connect to their own bodies.
🧠 Interoception is the internal sensory system that helps us notice and interpret body signals — like hunger, thirst, needing the bathroom, or feeling calm, nervous, or angry.
✨ Research shows that autistic brains process sensory information differently — not only from the outside world (sound, touch, light), but also from the inside world (body sensations). This means a child may not realize they’re hungry until they’re upset, or may feel a “big emotion” without knowing what their body is trying to say.
💙 At Mayflower, we teach interoception through compassionate, in-the-moment learning and multiple exemplars — using books, visuals, role-play, and real-life moments to help children identify and label what their bodies are telling them.
When a child’s heart races, tummy rumbles, or face feels warm, we pause and connect:
“You have a big smile on your face — you must be feeling happy!”
“Your tummy just made a noise — maybe that’s your body telling you you’re hungry.”
"You're talking very quickly and your face is turning red and warm- you must be getting angry. Let's take some deep breaths together."
Through repetition, modeling, and gentle reinforcement, children begin to notice, name, and respond to their body’s cues — building emotional awareness, regulation, and independence.
🌈 This skill becomes the foundation for confidence, communication, and wellbeing — because when children understand what their bodies are saying, they can better express what they need.
💛 At Mayflower, every lesson begins with love, safety, and understanding — and from there, we teach the skills that help children bloom.
