Elizabethtown College Associate Professor and Program Director for the Post-Professional Doctorate of Occupational Therapy (OTD), Kerri Hample, Adjunct Occupational Therapy Faculty, Kelly Mahler and recent graduates Carly Ensor ’23, Mary Ludwig ’23, and Adelaide Stang ’23 published a research article on the topic of interoception.
Their article, “An Interoception-Based Intervention for Improving Emotional Regulation in Children in a Special Education Classroom: Feasibility Study” was published in the Occupational Therapy in Health Care journal and details the group’s research on how to improve interoceptive awareness and emotional regulation within a special education classroom.
“This group of students and faculty is a dream team,” Hample said. “They were all curious, dedicated, persistent, and resilient in getting this work published.”
Interoception, a key part of Etown’s OTD program, supports the ability to notice, interpret, and react to internal sensations and impacts emotional regulation and participation in meaningful activities. It’s how an individual knows when they are experiencing sensations like hunger or pain.
The group examined the effectiveness of interoceptive curriculum in a special education classroom with nine students between the ages of 11 to 14 with mixed diagnoses. They compared scores on a test measuring interoceptive awareness both before and after the curriculum, and found greater emotional awareness of hunger, sleep, and injury, along with emotion and an increased global emotion regulation after incorporating the interoceptive curriculum.
“For children in a classroom, we must know how our bodies feel so that we can act,” Hample said. “Knowing how our bodies feel is the first step to making meaning of those signals so that we may successfully participate in school, home, and the community.”
About Etown’s Post Professional Doctorate of Occupational Therapy (OTD) Program
The Professional Doctorate of Occupational Therapy Program at Elizabethtown College School of Graduate and Professional Studies (SGPS) offers a highly customizable curriculum, equipping participants with the critical thinking, leadership, advocacy, and research skills, essential for contributing significantly to the field of occupational therapy. Learn more.
