Your Therapy Source Magazine for Pediatric Therapists May 2016 | Page 7

5 Interoceptive Sensory Strategies to Induce Sleep
The interoceptive sense perceives the physiological
condition of the internal body. It includes pain,
temperature, itch, affectionate touch, sensations from
our organs and muscles, hunger, thirst, and air
hunger. It also includes “gut” feelings such as
calmness, comfort, contentment, happiness, safety,
security and warmth. The exteroceptive sense
perceives external stimulus outside of the body such
as position in space, sight, hearing, taste, touch and
smell. All these affect our ability to sleep.
Here are 5 interoceptive sensory strategies to induce
sleep from the Autism Sleeps™ book
by Ileana S. McCaigue OTR/L:
1. Diurnal (day/night) patterning is important to
regulate circadian (sleep/wake) rhythms for all ages.
2. The sleep system used is the most important component or strategy/item to provide the
comfort and relaxation needed to make bedtime a pleasurable time to anticipate.
3. Facilitate positive self-esteem is critical to the ability of the person to feel secure enough
to enable a positive sleep experience.
4. Give affection with appropriate touch to further calm and support emotionally.
5. Induce a sense of security to help reduce anxiety, particularly for a child, would include
dispelling fears of the dark, ghosts, bugs, “monsters”, etc.
Autism Sleeps available at www.YourTherapySource.com
Get more sensory strategies to help restless minds sleep in Autism Sleeps™. This is a
thorough resource of sleep sensory strategies and suggestions for preparing the “sleep
environment”. Sample bedtime and wake-up routines are provided as templates, especially to
guide parents of children with sleep difficulties. Also includes checklists to identify which of the
six sensory area(s) are impacted by poor sleep. A menu of sensory strategies in each of those
affected areas is available for use in preparing a person to sleep, stay asleep and transition to
wake up. Additionally, a diary and graph are available for logging the impact of the strategies
implemented to determine those that are most effective in helping restless minds sleep.
FIND OUT MORE at http://yourtherapysource.com/autismsleeps.html
Reference: McCaigue, I. OTR. Autism Sleeps™. Suwanee, GA. Handy O. T. Treatment Tools,
LLC. 2013.

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