The AutSide Podcast

• Episode 419: The Pulse Between Us—Co-Regulation as Shared Humanity

  Today’s episode explores the concept of co-regulation as a fundamental, physiological process of shared rhythm and presence that precedes language and cognitive understanding. The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, argues that co-regulation, which involves the alignment of nervous systems through breath, posture, and rhythm, is essential for safety and flourishing, citing research on oxytocin and synchronised movement to support this idea. Dr. Hoerricks contrasts this view with compliance-based models of regulation, asserting that trauma represents a fracture in the body’s natural synchrony, and true healing requires attunement—a reciprocal listening for frequency—rather than control or prescribed behavior. Ultimately, she frames co-regulation not as an intervention but as an ethical praxis of mutuality, emphasising that well-being emerges in the sustained, present relationship between people.Here’s the link to the source article: https://open.substack.com/pub/autside/p/the-pulse-between-us-co-regulationLet me know what you think.The AutSide is a reader-supported publication. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit autside.substack.com/subscribe

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• Episode 418: Alexithymia and Relational Design in the Classroom

  Today’s episode fundamentally argues that emotional regulation is a relational and environmental process, not merely an individual act of willpower. The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, an AuDHD GLP and alexithymic educator, reimagines the classroom as a “living nervous system“ where factors like sensory ecology, architectural design, and the teacher’s own regulated presence (”co-regulation“) dictate student behaviour and feeling. Dr. Hoerricks critiques traditional behavioural systems (like token economies and compliance-focused models) for prioritising external control and performance over genuine psychological safety and internal regulation. Instead, she advocates for a pedagogy of resonance and attunement, citing supporting research by Delisio et al. (2022) on trauma-informed instruction and Johnson et al. (2023) on educator self-efficacy in co-regulation. Ultimately, she calls for a shift from enforcing compliance to fostering communion, where the physical space itself becomes the primary source of care and regulation.Here’s the link to the source article: https://open.substack.com/pub/autside/p/alexithymia-in-the-classroom-theLet me know what you think.The AutSide is a reader-supported publication. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit autside.substack.com/subscribe

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• Episode 417: Alexithymia—Emotional Literacy Through Body and Sensation

  Today’s episode fundamentally challenges the standard verbal and chart-based approaches to emotional literacy, particularly for autistic and gestalt-processing learners. The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, argues that emotion originates in the body as sensory experience—rhythm, texture, and movement—and that language and naming only follow as an “afterglow” of this felt experience. Dr. Hoerricks critiques conventional tools like “feelings charts” and “zones of regulation” for mistaking labeling for understanding and enforcing compliance over genuine sensory fluency. Instead, she advocates for shifting educational and therapeutic practices to prioritise creative modalities such as art, music, play, and gesture as the direct, authentic language of affect, supported by citations from various research articles on sensory processing and creative therapy in autism.Here’s the link to the source article: https://open.substack.com/pub/autside/p/alexithymia-beyond-feeling-chartsLet me know what you think.The AutSide is a reader-supported publication. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit autside.substack.com/subscribe

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• Episode 416: The Shape of Feeling—Alexithymia and Attunement

  Today’s episode provides a profound first-person reflection, authored by Jaime Hoerricks, PhD, on the experience of alexithymia and emotional dysregulation from an autistic GLP perspective. Dr. Hoerricks challenges the traditional diagnostic imagination, arguing that alexithymia is not the absence of feeling but rather an undivided, holistic experience of emotion (described as a “chord” or “symphony”) that resists fragmentation into simple linguistic labels. She reclaims what is often labeled as dysregulation as the body’s fidelity to sensory truth and a refusal to betray the coherence of feeling by forcing it into inadequate language, likening this pressure to a form of linguistic colonialism. She integrates several scientific citations to frame this discussion, ultimately advocating for a language of wholeness that honors silence, art, and rhythm over mandated verbal articulation of emotional states.Here’s the link to the source article: https://open.substack.com/pub/autside/p/the-shape-of-feeling-alexithymiaLet me know what you think.The AutSide is a reader-supported publication. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit autside.substack.com/subscribe

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• Episode 415: Gestalt, Alexithymia, and the Language of Wholeness

  Today’s episode challenges conventional, deficit-focused views of alexithymia, which is often characterised as the absence of words for feelings, by reframing it as a fidelity to wholeness. The author of the source article, Jaime Hoerricks, PhD, argues that for individuals, particularly those on the autism spectrum, who engage in gestalt language processing (GLP), emotion is experienced as a continuous, indivisible chord or landscape rather than discrete, analysable notes. Dr. Hoerricks critiques the “violence of translation” imposed by clinical frameworks that demand emotional experiences be segmented and named, suggesting this process destroys the original, resonant meaning. Ultimately, she proposes that alexithymia is not a lack of feeling but an “abundance” and “refusal to fragment” the integral connection between the attuned body and the surrounding world.Here’s the link to the source article: https://open.substack.com/pub/autside/p/the-whole-before-the-word-glp-andLet me know what you think.The AutSide is a reader-supported publication. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit autside.substack.com/subscribe

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