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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2025)
Temporary Tribal Student Assistance Program to begin accepting applications The Siletz Tribal Housing Depart- ment’s Temporary Tribal Student Assistance Program (TTSAP) will be accepting applications for the 2025-2026 academic year beginning May 1, 2025. Program Information: • The TTSAP assists Tribal Stu- dents who will be attending a college, university, vocational or trade school. • The TTSAP is a time-limited program. Funding is for one aca- demic year. • The TTSAP assists students with rent or room fees in a dormitory. • The student’s share of the rent is thirty percent of their adjusted annual income. Important To pick-up an application please stop by the Siletz Tribal Housing Department’s office at: 555 Tolowa Court Siletz OR, 97380 Note: The student will be required to remit a portion of the rent. For example, if a student is working the wages will affect the student’s share of the rent. You can also call 1.800.922.1399 x1315, 541.444.8315. Applications can also be downloaded from the Siletz Tribe’s website at http://www.ctsi. nsn.us/ For questions or more informai- ton please contact Cecelia DeAnda, Rental Assistance Program Coordi- nator/Resident Services Advocate at ceceliad@ctsi.nsn.us. STHD will be accepting appli- cations May 1 - 31, 2025. If appli- cations are received after May 31, 2025 they will not be accepted by the Siletz Tribal Housing Department. Understanding our different sensory systems and how they work together By Nancy Ludwig, MS, RDN, LD, Siletz Tribal Head Start Nutritionist As part of my role as a consultant nutritionist to Siletz Tribal Head Start, I offer information to families and the community. Last month the focus was on how stress can sig- nificantly interfere with digestion. I shared my concern that the common strategies offered for calming oneself don’t take neurology differences into account, such as autism (a form of neurodivergence). In this article, I describe the eight major senses and how these may dif- fer in autism. Additionally, the con- trasting tendencies of mono-tropism or poly-tropism are defined and explained as they differ in autism. The critical question for our consideration is, “How can we build a foundation of awareness and inclusiveness for the health of everyone?” All people have senses. Our higher brain and nervous systems work together to take in sensory informa- tion from head to toe. None of us can survive without our senses. It’s every- thing around us and inside us. We navigate through the pro- cess of input and output. Somehow, between the input and the output, the sensory systems of autistic people are different from those of non-autistics. Most of you are likely familiar with the basic five senses of taste, smell, touch, sound and sight. Less well known are the three additional major senses, which we all use, whether or not we are aware of them – interoception, proprioception and vestibular system. Interoception is defined as our internal sensation. Interoception enables us to know whether we feel hungry or thirsty, need the toilet, have a headache, etc. It is very important to be able to sense cues to meet our own basic needs. Interoception might be ignored when we are busy, distracted or over- whelmed. Some individuals may need to rely on recognizing physiological arousal (increased heart rate, sweat- ing, dry mouth, etc.). This is especially true with the condition of alexithymia, a difficulty identifying and describing one’s emotions. 4 • Siletz News • Proprioception is the sensation or the information, we receive from our muscles about where our bodies are in space and where the parts of our bodies are in relation to each other. Many autistic people experience time and space a little bit differently due to how slowly or quickly we process information. Our vestibular system responds to changes in head position and regu- lates balance. This system allows us to move effectively through the environ- ment and helps us regulate the arousal level of our nervous system. When this system does not function well, we are more likely to walk into things or not be very good at balancing. These systems all work together in the body. In autism, each sense can be variable in its speed of processing as well as its sensitivity. Some senses might be faster or slower than others, or even variable within one sense. This variation can complicate how information is processed. Often autistic people are more consciously aware of their senses than non-autistics, who may be uncon- sciously aware. Perceptions can be hypersensitive or hyposensitive. Hypersensitive means the sensory input is high. Sometimes it feels like “too much.” Hyposensitive means the sensory input is low and this person might need more input. This variable intensity can be accentuated with anxiety, trauma and co-occurring conditions. In autistic neurology, people tend to have more spiky sensory profiles due to variable speed and intensity. Sensitivities vary depending on both context and types of specific sensory input, such as loud noises or possibly a very specific noise at a cer- tain pitch, tone or volume. Response to that particular noise might change depending on how you’re feeling or what’s happening around you, your environment or people you are with. One day you might be able to handle the noise and one day you might not. Even from minute to minute, that can change. The resulting behaviors from these hyper and hypo styles are often mis- interpreted by non-autistics. Under responsivity to sensory stimulus can March 2025 be seen as lazy, not interested, weird or odd. Over responsivity can be seen as aggressive, uncooperative, defiant, unreasonable or overbearing. From this misinterpretation, non-autistics may deliver harsh consequences. How does this relate to food? It is important to note that when autistic people choose restricted diets, it isn’t just a sensory issue around taste. It could also be related to smell, texture, touch, or sound of food in your mouth or the visual appearance of the food. Additionally, proprioception or the vestibular system may explain the struggle to get food into one’s mouth or to keep it on a utensil. Our hunger and thirst cues are sensed through interoception. In order for our food to impact our body in the most positive and nourish- ing way, we need to sense our nervous system at a deep level. Everything is connected – nothing in our body stands apart. The state of our nervous system is an important aspect of our ability to digest our food well. It contributes to our overall state of health despite the differences in autistic and non- autistic people. Furthermore, the terms mono- tropism and poly-tropism seem important to understand as we seek to establish a foundation of understand- ing and inclusiveness. Monotropism is the strong ten- dency to be pulled into an interest (at least more strongly than non-autistic people). Fewer interests tend to be aroused at any one time and these interests attract more of our process- ing resources, making it harder to deal with things outside of our current attention tunnel. This provides a good explana- tion of why the autistic mind is often geared toward a deep focus on fewer things and why autistic communica- tion can be direct. This direct commu- nication becomes important because of the need to cut through all of the intense sensory engagement and con- scious processing. Non-autistic people tend toward polytropism and focus on a broader array of topics at once. This can result in messier communication and a more superficial understanding of topics. It is important to note that all senses work together, rather than individually. You never use just one. If you have a typical neurological system, transitions such as shifting attention or changing activities is more straightforward than it is for an autistic person. Monotropism impacts transitions due to the way it relates to neurology, thinking and processing styles. Many autistic people struggle with major and minor changes. Please be aware that this is not a choice or stubbornness. When autis- tic people are honored and allowed fewer changes or transitions, there is generally less stress and increased calm, which supports digestion and regulation. Furthermore, sensory overwhelm due to overall attention load can dampen interoception, resulting in missed hun- ger, thirst and bathroom cues. Inclusiveness is important because we need all neurological types around the food table and in our world. We all use our senses, but not in the same ways. Let’s broaden our thinking and our tolerance as we embrace each other. There isn’t a right and a wrong way to sense. We are all different. The world of autism has not been well understood. In a world that works for everyone, it is important to under- stand and accept our differences. Please know that Siletz Tribal Head Start offers support for nutri- tional consultation at no cost to Head Start families. This usually occurs over the telephone. If you have con- cerns about your Head Start child’s nutrition or family nutrition con- cerns, please contact your teacher or the director and ask to speak to the nutritionist. We want to support your children and families. References Kieran Rose, The Autistic Advo- cate, shares updated autism informa- tion at: https://theautisticadvocate.com/blog/ https://theautisticadvocate.com/ onlinelearning/ https://www.youtube.com/c KieranRoseTheAutisticAdvocate/ videos
