People with Autism may struggle with an experience called interoception. This is our ability to sense what is going on inside our body, specifically our organs. Each of our organs send out through the Vagus Nerve to the Insula which organises these signals into emotions. People with Autism can have fewer connections between these different ports of the brain which leads to us feeling disconnected from our body.
Here is an exercise you can try: Close your eyes and raise your arm. Once it is raised above your head, keep it there for a moment before bringing it back down. Now that it is in front of you, put your thumb up. You just experienced interoception within our body by activating different parts of your system (muscles, joints, etc.)
In rare cases, Autistic people may not be able to hold the spacial awareness to understand where their body is in space. If you have heard of ‘flat affect’, it is a term used to describe a lack of facial expression or a monotonous voice seen in Autistic individuals due to the disconnect between brain and body. Another example is in how those of us with Autism don’t comprehend that an exclamation mark represent a heightened reaction in text. These are all situations in which we require an awareness of our internal system to organise our feelings in response to the world around us.
Don’t start to panic if you do struggle with interoception. There are ways in which you can build upon and improve your brain-body connection. You can try:
- Practicing facial expression in the mirror
- Moving your face with your fingers to make different expressions. Pulling the corners of your lips up into a smile can activate a brain response and you might feel happy or elated.
- Imitate other people. Try copying the voice or facial expressions of your favourite character.
- Activate your senses and pay attention to what you are feeling. Hold an ice cube or a warm towel and notice how it reacts with your skin. What do you feel as you do this?
Here are only a few of the many exercises you can do to improve interoception. Remember, you are more than how you interact with the outside world. This is just something we experience differently to most people around us.
