Beyond the Diagnosis: Calming Your Child’s Overactive Nervous System
If you are a parent of a little one with any of the number of divergent neurodevelopmental conditions, you already know what it feels like to live in a state of hyper-vigilance. You see it in your child every day. The frequent restlessness, the meltdowns over that scratchy tag, or the struggle to hold eye contact during simple social interactions.
Mothers tell me they feel like they are constantly navigating a "perfect storm." They are managing their own parental burnout while trying to locate the right early intervention services.
As a Doctor of Chiropractic & Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner with 40 years of experience, I want to share a perspective that goes deeper than standard behavioral coaching. Let's look at the actual engine driving these challenges: the central nervous system. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 1 in 36 children in the U.S. have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a noticeable rise from previous years. When we look at the broader umbrella of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NDD)—which includes ADHD, learning disabilities, and developmental delays—it is clear our children are absorbing an unprecedented amount of physical, chemical, and emotional stress. Genetic and environmental factors can combine early on. Prenatal maternal stress, frequent infant illnesses, and early medication use can all disrupt early development.
Have you noticed your child staying in a constant state of "fight or flight"? The human nervous system has two primary gears: Sympathetic (Fight or Flight): Designed for protection and survival & Parasympathetic (Rest and Digest): Designed for growth, healing, and skill acquisition.
Here is the vital truth: Our bodies cannot be in protection mode and growth mode at the same time. In neurodevelopmental issues sometime the child is “stuck “in sympathetic mode. When a spine has a subluxation (a minor misalignment that interferes with nerve signals), it acts like a kink in a garden hose. It keeps the nervous system locked in that hyper-excited, defensive state. Chiropractic care is not a cure or a direct treatment for ASD, sensory challenges, or ADHD. Instead, it is a neurodivergent-affirming care practice focused entirely on removing that interference.
Look for future blogs where I discuss links between the central nervous system and these conditions.
If you want to chat directly about how Chiropractic might help your family, call us at 718-837-0048 or
