Interoception – Understanding What’s Inside

Young girl standing in front of a tree drinking from a water bottle

Imagine being at the park. You are sitting at a picnic table, reading. You notice you are starting to get too hot, so you move into the shade. This triggers you to realize you are thirsty so you drink some cold water you brought with you. An hour later, you sense you have to use the bathroom.

You get up and find a bathroom to use. After, you realize you are feeling tired, and it is getting late in the day and you need to prepare dinner. You go home to eat dinner and then head to bed.

ALL of this was because your body was able to sense what it needed. The internal cues of your body were recognized, processed, and found a solution- that’s interoception!

The interoceptive system guides our body in maintaining balance, also known as homeostasis.

It’s also compared to the mind-body connection. It’s understanding what your body needs, and how best to respond to meet it. This processing includes:

  • Hunger
  • Digestion
  • Thirst
  • Sleep
  • Body temperature
  • Bowel movements

Many children with difficulties processing sensory input are unable to understand what their bodies need.

These children can have difficulty with many aspects of their everyday life including potty training, regulating their emotions, sleep, and hunger. This can cause them to be dysregulated and have difficulty engaging.

Samantha Stiles, MS, OTR/L 

CEO, Occupational Therapist

As a pediatric therapist I know what it takes to really address feeding, sensory, and emotional challenges in children. I’m talking the kind of exponential growth that changes the course of lives. But this type of transformation requires time, parent involvement, and extra guidance.

When parents arrive inside the world of Empower Kids Therapy, they find a fresh spark of hope, a different way of thinking, and a sense of being understood.

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Ms.Sam - Pediatric Occupational Therapist

In-home occupational therapy services focused on sensory processing, feeding & infant development
📍 Orlando, FL

Wondering if weekly therapy is enough? You’re not alone. 

Sometimes, progress stalls, strategies don’t stick at home, or challenges show up everywhere, not just in the clinic.

 If you’ve been feeling like your family needs more hands-on, whole-life support, it might be time to consider a more comprehensive approach.

We’re here to help you move beyond maintenance and into meaningful, lasting change, together. 💚

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At Empower Kids Therapy, we’ll equip your family for therapy sessions AND the other 167 hours of your lives! 

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Living in Orlando means Disney is part of our kids’ lives - but for sensory-sensitive children,
theme parks can be overwhelming instead of magical 🏰 ✨

At Empower Kids, we don’t just teach coping strategies. 

We create comprehensive preparation plans that transform Disney experiences:

-Visual schedules for park sequences -Customized sensory kit
-Character meeting prep
materials
-Sensory maps of each park 
-Timing strategies for optimal experiences

Our Disney preparation isn’t just about the park day - it’s about the whole experience from planning to post-visit processing.

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