187. From Regulation to Liberation with Dr. Niki Elliott

Thank you.

So when I came to USD and we were building the center, we were toying with the name, and I said, "Embodied equity has to be a part," because I truly believe that this idea of, um, embodiment is the key missing feature in our common conversations about neurodiversity.

So if you're an occupational therapist or you are an ABA, then those are the kind of domains or specializations where people have those conversations about the sensory triggers and the sensory needs and the nervous system state of neurodiverse people, but everywhere else, it is not commonly thought about.

So when we use the term embodied equity, what we're asking people is to consider how the built environment, the physical environment in which we ask neurodiverse children to function and thrive, or individuals, not just children, um, impacts their nervous system, their brain functioning, their sense of sensory overwhelm, and how when we do not account, proactively account for those needs-

Mm

... we're creating environments that by definition are not equitable for them to access, to thrive, and to show us their genius and what they're actually capable of.

We create sensory stressors that lead to behavior triggers.

We only see the behavior, but we're not taught how to back up and understand that the antecedent to that behavior was the fluorescent lights, or was the low tone sounds, or were the scratchy sensory things that we're demanding the child manipulate to get a grade, right?

Mm-hmm.

So embodied equity is asking us to look at what nervous systems, brains, and bodies need to fully, um, experience a sense of felt safety, a sense of comfort, and a sense of belonging, um, in any living or learning space.

So important, and I absolutely agree that this is missing from many conversations.

Mm-hmm.

And I think it's, uh, so, so needed.

I think it also, as you were talking, it made me think of just taking responsibility for the roles that school systems or teachers, uh, play also, right?

Mm-hmm.

Like really setting up an environment that works for all students.

Yes.

And, and what I found, Lily, um, in observing teachers, training teachers, being a teacher, is that, um, most children and adults actually, we set up environments based on what fits our nervous system's comfort.

Mm-hmm.

Right? So you think about when you used, if you used to take old school road trips, right, before we had, um, you know, streaming and everybody had their own headphones and iPads in their own ears, right? The radio was set to who the driver, what the driver wanted to listen to, right? The temperature in the car was set to what the adult or the driver wanted to feel comfort, and everybody else had to bring their blankets and deal with it, right?

[laughs]

Um, but we kinda do that the same way in classrooms.

So teachers that love things that feel very full, very bright, you know, they've got ceiling to floor, wall to wall, things on the walls, on the shelves, and it can create such sensory overwhelm for students.

But for the teacher, it feels very comfortable.

Mm.