What is Interoceptive Awareness 

The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness – Version 2 (MAIA-2) is a standardised self-report assessment used to explore how individuals perceive, interpret, and respond to internal bodily sensations. Interoception is the awareness of internal signals, including hunger, thirst, heart rate, breathing, pain, temperature, fatigue, and emotional bodily cues.

Interoceptive differences are commonly reported by autistic young people and adults and may influence emotional regulation, anxiety, sensory experiences, decision-making, and self-care.

The MAIA-2 provides a structured framework for understanding how a person notices, interprets, trusts, and regulates internal bodily signals, supporting a more holistic view of mind–body awareness.

The assessment is suitable for adolescents and adults and is interpreted within a neurodiversity-affirming framework to inform formulation, recommendations, and post-assessment support planning.

Purpose:

The MAIA-2 is used to identify patterns of interoceptive awareness that may affect emotional well-being, self-regulation, and everyday functioning. It supports the development of personalised strategies to improve body awareness, self-care, and emotional understanding.

Focus:

The assessment explores eight key dimensions of interoceptive awareness:

• Noticing bodily sensations

• Not distracting from or avoiding bodily sensations

• Not worrying about bodily sensations

• Attention regulation

• Emotional awareness linked to bodily signals

• Self-regulation using body awareness

• Body listening

• Trust in bodily sensations

These domains provide insight into how individuals experience and relate to their internal bodily cues.

Administration:

The MAIA-2 is completed as a self-report questionnaire and typically takes 10–15 minutes to complete. It can be administered online or as part of a broader clinical or neurodevelopmental assessment.

Price: £125

What is included in the price:

• The MAIA-2 questionnaire sent to you for completion

• Scoring, analysis, and clinical interpretation of results

• Integration of findings into a comprehensive written report

• A feedback session (online or face-to-face) to explain the findings and answer any questions

• Personalised, practical recommendations to support interoceptive awareness and self-regulation

Validity:

The MAIA-2 is a well-established, evidence-based measure with strong psychometric properties, widely used in clinical and research settings to assess interoceptive awareness.

All assessments are conducted by a psychologist in training under supervisionor a fully qualified neurodevelopmental practitioner, in line with ethical and professional standards.

This assessment is not diagnostic in nature but can complement existing or future autism assessments by providing valuable insight into interoceptive processing and related support needs.

The report can be used for:

• Informing post-diagnostic support and intervention planning

• Supporting emotional regulation and well-being strategies

• Enhancing self-understanding and body awareness

• Contributing contextual information to future diagnostic processes

• Supporting referrals to GPs or other healthcare professionals

Please note:

This is not a diagnostic assessment for autism. However, it can significantly support understanding of interoceptive differences, particularly in autistic and neurodivergent individuals, and includes tailored recommendations to support everyday self-awareness, regulation, and wellbeing.