This is very good. How do you help caregivers, who may be well intentioneed, stop gaslighting, "fixing" and "helping" instead of holding space around neurodivergent kids and their asynchronous/atypical development?
That is a great question, and one I’m actively working on as a parent. Understanding a little bit about interoception and how we are all so diverse in our felt experience can lead to more curiosity. Trying to learn more about our child’s inner experience rather than assuming to understand can be an important (but hard) shift!
Is there any research about how chemicals like legal (or otherwise) drugs interfere with interoception? This would be particularly relevant to late diagnosed adults who currently are or have been prescribed many different medications like pain meds, tranquilizers and antidepressants. If you are already disassociated from your senses, adding another layer just seems to add to the confusion. Which I mention since neurodivergence tends to run in families, so ND kids might have at least one interoceptionally challenged family member that will be caring for them. @KellyMahlerOT
@@KellyMahlerOT good on you. Interception is the other big thing that throws off NT parents/doctors/teachers/etc. perhaps the trifecta of misunderstanding autistic children is 1. Double empathy / uncanny valley 2. Developmental asynchrony 3. Interception differences Maybe throw in the tendency to overdiagnose for ADHD. The name of the game is: stop thinking of everything as a problem! The double empathy gap/uncanny valley creates this unconscious drive to "fix." Care providers need to constantly be asking "is this really a problem... And from the perspective of whom?" Unfortunately almost any "help" can be conversion/assimilation in disguise. We need to make sure everyone is prioritizing acceptance and putting "do no harm" first
@@utubeuserintheusa yeah, this is a huge issue. Everybody wants to tinker and "fix" and "help" neurodiverse people so we don't get the space we need to know ourselves and find our own balances
@@utubeuserintheusa I have not done a literature search in the last year or so, but do know there are published studies showing the effects of medication on the insula (which is the interoception center of the brain). Also studies in the addictions field finding interoception differences--including in substance use.. Lived experience also supports your connection--countless reports on how medication changes the way that we feel (interoception!). And the way a medication can impact a person interoceptively is highly variable between individuals.
