Nervous-System-Sensitive Kids
Why behavior escalates — and what actually helps Nervous-system-sensitive kids include children with autism, ADHD, anxiety, OCD, trauma histories, sensory processing differences, PDA-style profiles, and other neurodivergent nervous systems. Their behavior is often driven by how their nervous system detects and responds to threat—not by attitude, defiance, or lack of motivation. The real issue These children detect stress faster, react more intensely, and take longer to return to baseline. Under pressure, their nervous system shifts into survival mode, reducing access to reasoning, impulse control, and flexible thinking. Guard Dog vs. Wise Owl Amygdala (Guard Dog): Scans for danger (pressure, tone, unpredictability, sensory overload, loss of control). Triggers fight, flight, freeze, or shutdown. Prefrontal Cortex (Wise Owl): Handles reasoning, decision-making, learning from consequences. Rule: When the Guard Dog is barking, the Wise Owl goes offline. Why con...