This chapter is, really, what we have all been waiting for! The section with the strategies! There are two different types of interventions, those for reducing Interoceptive Awareness and one for building Interoceptive Awareness. Those strategies being used in cases of reduced interoceptive awareness will give the child indications of whne to complete the necessary task, such as alarms for using the washroom. IA Builders increase attention to the functions of the body and thus increase one’s awareness of these necessary features.

Strategies for Interoceptive Awareness Builders are found on pages 71 through 88. Each strategy includes a mini-lesson plan for each one. At my school this year, we are doing an inquiry project on anxiety, teaching students about anxiety, what it is, how it feels and how to work with it, including strategies to reduce these feelings. One of the first things we have been doing is asking the kids to do a body scan- a thoughtful process about where they feel their anxiety when they do feel it. In this chapter, we see the stages of the body scan for those that are not yet aware of the feelings inside their bodies and then it works its way up to the feelings when a child is uspset, anxious, sad, etc. There are also strategies learning about heart rate and games that teach a child how to lower their heart rates. These is also an IA Builder called  “Interoception in Others” in which they use the skills they have learned about themselves in order to see these feelings in others. I think I might have to play this game with my own son, who often does not see how others are feeling until it is way too late.

Which strategies do you already use? Which would you like to try out? Is there a strategy that you might change somehow to suit your own needs?