05/19/2026
When neurodivergent children feel big emotions, they may struggle to acknowledge body cues, identify how they are feeling, and use coping strategies independently. ABA can be used to help identify body cues, link them to real emotions, and provide appropriate coping strategies using visuals, social stories, and reinforcement!
Use visuals! Visuals can help organize and show a child specific body cues related to specific emotions. These visuals can be individualized to a child’s needs and help to identify and articulate bodily cues and big emotions!
Find and create social stories that relate to bodily cues and big emotions often felt by the child! Emotions can be difficult to understand and process without assistance; social stories help by creating connections between bodily cues and big emotions through easier to understand narration. Social stories also put into action coping strategies that can be used when bodily cues and big emotions are recognized. Plus, by using nonjudgmental and inclusive language in a social story, bodily cues, big emotions, and coping skills are normalized and validated!
Reinforce, reinforce, reinforce! When a child recognizes a bodily cue, identifies how they are feeling, and/or uses a coping strategy to regulate, reinforcement should be provided immediately. This reinforcement will increase the likelihood of practicing self-regulation in the future!
Ultimately, ABA can be an incredibly useful tool to teach a child how to recognize bodily cues, relate them to emotions, and use appropriate coping strategies!
