I have been working on the goal of Learning with Inclusion Support Teachers (ISTs) Tanya Thayer and Stacey Poohachoff to learn about and integrate a program called Interoception Awareness into their schools. Rachelle Vogel, Occupational Therapist (OT), and Lisa Tremblay, Speech Language Pathologist (SLP), have paved the way with great success using this program one on one with some of our more exceptional students in our district with very creative approaches.

Pathways.org describes Interoceptive Awareness as a "sense that helps us understand our body’s internal sensations. This is the sense that helps us know if we’re hungry, thirsty, hot, cold, or any other feeling that begins within our bodies.

It also helps with emotional regulation, as some of our emotions are linked to physical sensations. For example, think about how feeling anxious can cause a racing heart, a dry mouth, sweating, tingling, and other physical sensations. Interoception helps you understand these physical signs and regulate emotions. If you begin feeling anxious, you can also begin to take steps to feel calm, like taking deep breaths or going for a walk."

This curriculum, developed by Kelly Mahler, will be used with individual students, small groups and hopefully whole classes as well. Some teachers feel the sessions can be integrated easily along with mindfulness moments, body science, body breaks, gym time, health science, etc. It will also be shared with parents so that the language and learning can be generalized across environments and experiences.

One of the students going through the program is Audrey Fehst, a Grade 1 student at Hume Elementary  A few goals for her are to better understand the difference between pain, or “owie,” and other sensations as well as to better detect when she needs to use the washroom.

I recently started a Google Classroom to share the curriculum with District ISTs and ISTs. This classroom will be used to share modified curriculum, successes and to problem solve challenges.

A project in progress and to achieve by the end of the 2022/23 school year and have set up for the 2023/24 year is to complete SD8 students’ recorded sessions, which we have been calling “Body Science.” We would then put these recordings onto the Google Classroom, or an approved platform, so that the curriculum may be more easily accessed and integrated into the schools in whatever way possible.