We get lots of great questions from parents and educators about how interoception can fit into a school program, especially how to include it in an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Nurturing interoception for all students and staff is important, and when we are creating an IEP, interoception can play a crucial role. This role is especially true for students who are neurodivergent (e.g., those with Autism Spectrum Disorder or ADHD) or for students who have experienced trauma.
My resources, like The Interoception Curriculum, make it simple to incorporate interoception into classrooms and IEPs, helping students go beyond memorizing traditional coping strategies like deep breathing. While deep breathing has its place, interoception helps students discover regulation strategies that genuinely work for their unique bodies, fostering skills they can rely on for life.
These tools are essential for helping students achieve social-emotional growth and function-based goals, ensuring they have the individualized support they need to thrive. Whether you’re a parent, teacher, support staff, occupational therapist, speech and language therapist, guidance counselor, or other mental health provider, interoception-based strategies offer an accessible, science-backed approach to truly making a difference in schools.
What Is an IEP?
An Individual Education Plan (IEP) is an educational program for students with disabilities. This plan requires specially designed instruction to meet the student’s unique learning needs to access the school curriculum. There is a process, including multidisciplinary evaluations, that helps to determine if a child is eligible for an IEP and to create an individual learning plan with specific goals and supports across all school environments.
The IEP process is a collaboration of the student and their family, plus school administrators, educators, and related service providers, including occupational therapists, speech therapists, physical therapists, and mental health therapists. A solid team approach and effective collaboration ensure the success of the student.
Making sure your child’s IEP supports their self-awareness and regulation means focusing on their unique needs rather than just compliance-based goals. Our FREE download– Interoception Reflection Questions –can help guide meaningful IEP discussions, shifting the focus from compliance-based systems to a more individualized, body-aware approach.
Why Interoception Matters In Your Child’s IEP
Interoception, the sense that helps us feel and understand internal body signals, is essential for recognizing emotions and bodily needs. There may be a higher likelihood of interoception differences related to Trauma, Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, and other forms of neurodivergence.
For these people, it can be harder to recognize signals indicating bodily needs such as hunger, thirst, need for toilet, pain, or illness. This unfamiliarity with their body signals may impact emotional regulation and the ability to regulate during daily life activities.
Without understanding their body signals, students may struggle to effectively use coping strategies or choose regulation strategies that truly work for them. For example, while deep breathing is a popular coping strategy taught in schools, it won’t help if the student doesn’t recognize their body’s need for it—or if it isn’t the strategy their body actually needs at the moment. Building interoceptive awareness provides the foundation for regulated IEP goals by helping students identify how their body feels and connect those sensations to emotions and needs.
Is Your Child’s IEP Interoception-Informed?
Want to make sure your child’s IEP truly supports their interoception needs? Another valuable FREE download provides you with a Guiding Checklist that can help you assess whether the IEP prioritizes body awareness over behavior compliance. These key questions will help you advocate for a plan that fosters self-understanding, regulation, and meaningful growth. Download this FREE checklist today and start creating an IEP that works for your child!
Including interoception IEP goals, accommodations, and supports can empower students to develop meaningful self-awareness, self-regulation, and social-emotional skills. Collaborating with professionals like educators, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and counselors ensures that the interoception IEP goals will nurture each student’s unique body signals, creating a path to success both in and out of the classroom.
Developing Interoception IEP Goals
Including interoception-related IEP goals in a child’s educational plan can help guide a strategic approach to interoceptive awareness. These goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, or SMART IEP goals. Here’s How:
1. Identify Functional Skills
Supported by Interoception
Start by pinpointing the functional skills that interoception might support, such as toileting, recognizing hunger, persisting with a tricky academic task, or regulating attention or energy during classroom activities. For example, interoception can strengthen a student’s understanding of how their body uniquely feels when they are getting overwhelmed with a tricky task, such as a test or a puzzle.
2. Develop SMART Interoception IEP Goals
Once this area of function is determined, write a SMART IEP goal to target growth in this area. Instead of relying on generic coping strategies, this approach helps students discover what truly works for them. It can also help them understand what their body uniquely needs to regulate in these moments—thus, the interoception strategies will hopefully facilitate increased participation in tricky tasks.
3. Integrate Interoception
Support Activities
Interoception-based support is used to nurture the interoceptive awareness needed to successfully participate in the goal area(s) of function. The Interoception Curriculum provides a step-by-step framework to help students build this essential awareness, making IEP goals for self-regulation, emotional expression, and independence more effective. Get your copy today and start supporting real, lasting growth!
It is recommended that the Interoception IEP goals are not specific to making gains in interoceptive awareness just for the sake of improvement. Rather, interoception growth is a means to help the student reach their participation-based, function-based, or regulation IEP goals.
Top 10 Tips for Writing Interoception-Based IEP Goals
Struggling to write IEP goals that actually support a student’s self-awareness and regulation? This blog breaks down the following 10 practical tips for creating interoception-based IEP goals that honor each student’s unique needs. Ditch the outdated “behavior plans” and start fostering real growth and authentic connections. For more details on each tip, check out the blog!
- Start with Self-Awareness to Foster Social Emotional Growth
- Focus on Strengths, Not Fixing
- Reflect on Interoception Discoveries in the IEP
- Honor Student Regulation Preferences
- Respect Refusals
- Explore Different Forms of Interoception Communication
- Co-Regulation Is Key
- Proactive Dysregulation Support
- Build Academic Success Through Relationships
- Guide Self-Discovery for True Individualization
Need Help Implementing the Interoception Curriculum in the Classroom?
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Get More Out of Your IEP with Interoception!
Students may face challenges in achieving their IEP goals, and our range of interoception resources can help explore and address their authentic needs. These resources are ideal for inclusion in the specially designed instruction (SDI) often outlined in IEPs, offering practical tools to support goals in improving self-regulation, use of coping strategies in the classroom, growing in social emotional learning, and increasing self-advocacy.
From my comprehensive Interoception Curriculum to on-demand courses tailored for supporting trauma survivors and neurodivergent individuals, these tools provide personalized strategies that align with each student’s unique needs and goals. With a focus on fostering self-awareness and independence, these resources empower students to make meaningful progress in school and beyond.
