The autonomic nervous system controls stress and calm through its two branches — sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest, digest, and connect). Chronic sympathetic dominance affects brain, gut, and immune function. Supporting vagal tone through breathing, movement, and connection helps children with autism shift from survival mode toward brain and body healing, regulation, and emotional safety.

By Amanda Downsborough - Holistic Child Health. BSc, PGDip, GCert, MSc, ACAAM Parents are suffering under the scrutiny of family, friends, and strangers as their child throws flailing limbs and verbals insults, launching war on them yet again. Inside these fragile, developing brains, the delicate balance of chemicals brews like a Molotov cocktail just waiting for a trigger. We walk on eggshells to prevent another fit of rage (was it over the wrong pair of socks?), hoping they