The 8th Sense
by Kerri Silverthorn | Fri, Dec 20th, 2019
Do you know someone with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)? Chances are that you do because 1 in 59 children are diagnosed with ASD according to estimates from the CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network. I have been interested in learning about autism since before my 6-year-old cousin with ASD entered into my life. Of course, knowing that he has ASD drives my interest even more. His mom and dad are wonderful parents that meet him where he is at each and every day while also challenging him to grow and learn. Raising a child with autism comes with its own set of challenges, and my only hope is that the information that I find can be used by someone that is trekking along on that journey.
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the OCALICON19 conference where people from around the world gathered to discuss autism. I listened to many people on the spectrum and experts in the field share stories, experiences, and information. I learned what it is like to experience the world with sensory processing disorder (SPD). I also learned quite a bit about the 8th sense, interoception. This is the sense that helps the body to feel and understand what is happening on the inside of the body. People that struggle with interpreting the sensations of this sense may have trouble knowing when they feel hungry, full, hot, cold or thirsty. This was by far the best learning experience that I have had in regards to ASD. The two speakers for this particular session were Chloe Rothschild and Kelly Mahler. I enjoyed this session so much, that I thought I would share some of my favorite links below.
Click here to read about interoception
Click here to look at Kelly & Chloe's interoception workbook
Click here to visit Kelly's website
Click here to follow Chloe on Facebook
Click here to visit Chloe's website
Click here to visit OCALI's website
Click here to visit Milestones Autism Resources website
Kerri Silverthorn Fri, Dec 20th, 2019