Book Works: Reading Your Body’s Cues and Being a Friend to Yourself

Perhaps you’ve heard of interoception, the sense that helps us understand what’s going on inside our bodies. Known as the “eighth sense,” interoception lets us feel and analyze sensations or body cues relating to heartbeat, body temperature, bladder, muscle tenseness, and other feelings. Developing interoception and body awareness can be a significant challenge for people with autism, sensory processing disorder and related issues, but improvement is possible. CW recently shared two posts by guest blogger Kelly Mahler (How Do I Feel? Interoception, the Eighth Sense and Improving Interoception) that delved into interoception and why it’s so important. The first of this month’s book selections introduces the concept of interoception. The second, also by author Gabi Garcia, builds social and emotional learning through kindness and perspective taking. 

picture of book cover, "Listening to my body", book about body cues

Listening to My Body by Gabi Garcia; Illustrated by Ying Hui Tan

This book introduces kids to the concept of interoception and explains it using concrete examples that are easy to understand. The “Let’s Practice” sections get kids actively learning to tune in to their body and notice exactly how it’s feeling.Amazon affiliate link (opens in a new tab): https://www.amazon.com/Listening-Body-understand-connection-sensations-ebook/dp/B075ZCLZ3P/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=listen+to+my+body&qid=1555646607&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

picture of book cover, "listening with my heart", book about body cues

Listening with My Heart: A Story of Kindness and Self-Compassion by Gabi Garcia; Illustrated by Ying Hui Tan

This story focuses on the importance of being a compassionate friend to yourself and on the value of self-acceptance and positive self-talk.Amazon affiliate link (opens in a new tab): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077WCZB95/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1Article by Elizabeth Sautter, M.A., CCC-SLPSpeech Language Pathologist & Executive Director of Communication WorksBook Works are book recommendations by Communication Works (CW) that support speech, language, social and emotional growth for children.