Interoception, the ability to recognize bodily signals like heart rate, hunger, temperature..., is often a significant source of stress and anxiety in autistic youth.

They may struggle to control the overload their body is experiencing by being unable to recognize the physical symptoms they are experiencing, leading to a potential crisis when the build up becomes too much.

Or, an autistic youth may go without eating or drinking anything for an entire school day. A student may wear clothes that are inappropriate to the weather, seeming not to recognize heat and cold.

Or, some may experience both depending on the situation and stimulus.

The study that I used for this episode explores the issue and presents effective ways to lessen to impact of interoceptive weaknesses.

Thanks to soundimage.org for the free access to the AI generated music used in this podcast (https://soundimage.org/)