Supporting Children with Alexithymia: Understanding Emotions Through the Body
If your child struggles to identify or explain their emotions, they might be experiencing something called alexithymia. Keep reading as Occupational Therapist, Bo shares practical ways parents can support emotional wellbeing through sensory strategies and body awareness activities.
What is Alexithymia?
Alexithymia is a trait where a person has difficulty recognising and describing their emotions. It’s not a mental health disorder, but rather a way the brain processes emotions differently. Research shows that alexithymia is very common in neurodivergent communities, including autistic people and those with ADHD.
For children with alexithymia, it’s not that emotions aren’t present—they are. The challenge is noticing them, making sense of them, and then expressing them in ways others understand. This can sometimes lead to frustration, misunderstandings, or even mental health struggles if emotional needs go unrecognised.
Why Emotional Support Still Matters
Just because a child can’t easily label or express emotions doesn’t mean they don’t need emotional support. In fact, they often need it more. Emotional regulation—the ability to manage feelings in a way that’s healthy and safe—can be nurtured in different ways, even without “talking it out.”
The Role of Interoception
One of the keys to helping children with alexithymia is building interoceptive awareness. Interoception is our internal sense—the way we notice signals from inside our bodies, like a racing heart, butterflies in the stomach, or a dry mouth. These body signals are important clues, because they often show up before we consciously realise we’re feeling an emotion. For example, a tight chest might mean anxiety, while warm cheeks might signal embarrassment.
When children learn to connect these body cues with emotions, they can begin to build a bridge between physical sensations and feelings.
How Occupational Therapists Can Help
Occupational therapists (OTs) can support children with alexithymia by:
Educating families about emotional regulation strategies that don’t rely on verbal expression. For example, exploring facial expressions, body language and tone / volume of voice.
Using sensory preferences (like movement, deep pressure, or calming sounds) to help the body feel more balanced when emotions are running high. Alternatively, we can explore safe ways to re-direct them in a way that still meets their sensory needs when dysregulated e.g. giving them a pillow to punch if they are demonstrating urges to hit / punch.
Introducing interoception-based activities such as yoga stretches for kids, measuring your pulse, or completing simple “body scans,” to help children notice internal sensations such as tense vs. relaxed muscles, a racing heart, whether we are hungry or need the toilet.
The Connection Between the Body and Emotions
By strengthening interoception, children can start to notice early signs that their emotional state is shifting. Over time, this gives them tools to self-regulate—whether that’s asking for a break, using a calming activity, or simply knowing “something feels off” before it turns into a meltdown or shutdown.
Final Thoughts
Congratulations! By reading this blog you are one step closer to knowing how to help your child learn to understand and express their emotions effectively. We hope you find it reassuring to know that supporting your child’s emotional wellbeing isn’t only talking about their feelings. Supporting a neurodivergent child with alexithymia means looking beyond words and focusing on the body as a guide. With the right strategies and support, children can learn to tune into their own inner body sensations—and that’s a powerful step toward healthier emotional regulation.