Overview
Functional abdominal pain (FAP) is a common pediatric complaint and a marker of vulnerability for later chronic pain and psychiatric disorders. Autistic children are disproportionately affected, experiencing FAP at rates approximately four times higher than their non-autistic peers, likely due to heightened sensory and interoceptive sensitivities. Rather than being supported to interpret these sensations adaptively, many children develop rigid routines and avoidance strategies that constrain their perceptual world—a narrowed “Perception Box” in which bodily sensations are experienced as threatening rather than informative.
This project will refine and test a playful, interoceptive-based intervention designed to transform autistic children’s relationship with their bodies from fear to curiosity and trust. Sixty autistic children ages 5–12 with FAP will complete a 10-session program that teaches them to notice, label, and respond to internal bodily cues using humor, body-sensation characters, and guided “body investigations” that create expectancy violations and promote inhibitory learning. Sensitivity is reframed as a strength—a superpower—allowing children to experience their bodies as strong, wise, and trustworthy. We will evaluate session-by-session changes in perceived body trust, enjoyment, and helpfulness; assess feasibility and acceptability of lab- and home-based interoceptive assessments; and test whether reductions in pain, distress, and interference are mediated by changes in body trust and vagal efficiency, a physiological marker of interoceptive responsivity.
By cultivating measurable changes in perception and self-relation, this work aligns directly with the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation’s mission to expand the Perception Box and reduce suffering by helping children experience their bodies as reliable guides.