Co-regulation for Autistic people: calm is contagious when it is safe
By Helen Edgar and David Gray-Hammond · From the Re-Storying Autism workbook, Module 3
Autistic people are often told to self-regulate before they have ever been given the safety of co-regulation. Co-regulation means using your steady nervous system to support someone else’s. It is not smothering or soothing for them. It is being present enough to let your calm become something they can borrow. Co-regulation might look like: - Sitting quietly next to them - Offering deep pressure through a weighted blanket - Slowing and observing your own speech - Dimming the lights without comment - Grounding your breathing - Offering a familiar object - Using predictable, gentle language
Keep going in the course
This is a short extract. The full lesson in Module 3: Sensory and Emotional Landscapes includes the video teaching, the rest of the workbook text, reflection questions for parents, carers and Autistic people, and progress tracking.