Interoception refers to the internal sense that helps individuals perceive and interpret bodily sensations, such as hunger, thirst, pain, and emotional states. It's essentially the body's way of sending signals to the brain about its internal condition. This internal awareness is crucial for recognizing physical and emotional needs, allowing individuals to respond appropriately. For students with complex communication needs, understanding and interpreting these signals can be particularly challenging, as they might not have the language or tools to express what they are feeling. On top of that challenge, they may also have underdeveloped sensory systems, which makes it difficult to even understand what is trying to be taught. 

Not every student is developmentally ready to learn interoception and bodily awareness due to varying levels of cognitive and communication skills. For these students, it often falls upon communication partners—such as teachers, aides, and caregivers—to interpret their signals and behaviors. Understanding subtle cues, like changes in facial expressions, body language, or vocalizations, becomes crucial in identifying their needs and discomforts. Patience and observation are key as these partners provide the necessary support until the student develops the ability to recognize and articulate their internal sensations independently. 

Understanding interoception is vital for these students to identify and articulate their experiences of pain or other bodily sensations. By developing their sensory processing skills and interoceptive awareness, students can learn over time to recognize specific sensations and associate them with appropriate responses or descriptions. For instance, they might learn to identify a stomachache as hunger or anxiety, or understand that a headache could be a sign of stress or dehydration. This recognition is the first step in communicating their needs effectively, whether through verbal language, picture symbols, or other communication devices. 

For educators, teaching interoception involves guiding students to become more aware of their internal states and helping them connect these sensations to feelings and conditions they can identify and describe. This process includes using visual aids, body scans, and role-playing activities to make abstract internal experiences more concrete and understandable. By enhancing interoceptive skills, teachers can empower students to better manage their physical and emotional well-being, ultimately leading to improved self-regulation and communication. 

Assistive technology is a great tool for teaching interoception and bodily awareness to students with complex communication needs. Communication systems enable students to express internal sensations. Visual supports provide pain scales and body diagrams, helping students accurately describe their feelings. There are even wearable devices monitoring physiological signs which may help students link these indicators to their internal experiences. Additionally, sensory tools, such as weighted blankets and noise-canceling headphones, aid in regulating overwhelming sensations.  

**Activities to Consider:** 

1. Gesture Dictionary: Create a gesture dictionary (paper or video) for the student that gives communication partners a clear idea of how the student currently communicates bodily sensations, such as loud, high-pitched crying; grimaces; pulling away from touch; etc.   

2. Body Sensation and Feelings Social Narrative Story: Read social story and then use it as a jumping off point for teaching students language around bodily sensations. 

3. Activity Cards and Other Manipulatives: Do one or more of the activity cards and talk about the corresponding sensations to that activity. May even do even more basic description activities with some students, such as exploring wet/dry and hot/cold with handwashing activity or a variety of textured objects. Let students explore these items or activities and describe how they feel. 

4. Body Mapping- Linking Body Sensations to Feelings and Emotions: Select an emotion to illustrate. Ask student(s) to draw an outline of their body. Ask them to remember a time when they felt like that. Have the child draw facial features for this feeling and the sensations in other parts of the body. They can draw, write, or place the visual of the sensations they felt. You may need to prompt students with some common examples of sensations (What did you notice about your breathing? Did anything happen to your hands?).  

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