- (636) 296-8123
- office@abundanthealthstl.com
- 1804 Jeffco Blvd, Arnold, MO 63010
Tags. Loud rooms. Unexpected touch. When every day feels like a battle against your child’s own nervous system, there’s a root cause worth exploring, and a way to help.
Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) is a condition where the brain has difficulty receiving, organizing, and responding to sensory information from the environment. For some kids, sensations that others barely notice, the seam of a sock, a loud classroom, a light touch on the shoulder, feel overwhelming, even unbearable. For others, it goes the opposite direction: they seek out intense sensory input and can’t seem to get enough.
Living with SPD can look like explosive meltdowns over clothing textures, an inability to focus in busy environments, extreme picky eating, avoidance of playgrounds or crowded spaces, or a child who is constantly moving, crashing, and seeking deep pressure. For parents, every outing can feel like navigating a minefield.
What most families aren’t told is this: SPD is fundamentally a nervous system problem. The brain and body are miscommunicating. Signals are getting scrambled. The autonomic nervous system, which controls how the body perceives and responds to the world, is stuck in a state of overdrive. Occupational therapy is incredibly valuable for building coping skills and sensory tolerance, but it doesn’t address what’s driving the dysregulation at the root level. Sensory challenges also frequently overlap with ADHD and autism, since all three share the same underlying nervous system dysregulation.
That’s where neurologically-focused chiropractic care enters the picture.
What SPD Often Looks Like Day to Day
At Abundant Health Chiropractic, we begin with our INSiGHT neurological scanning technology, a non-invasive, radiation-free assessment that measures how stress is showing up in your child’s nervous system. For sensory kids, these scans often reveal significant autonomic imbalance, with the sympathetic (fight-or-flight) nervous system running the show and the calming, parasympathetic branch struggling to keep up.
Our gentle, neurologically-focused chiropractic adjustments are designed to reduce interference in the nervous system, helping the brain and body communicate more clearly and efficiently. When the nervous system is less overwhelmed, many children show meaningful improvements in sensory tolerance, emotional regulation, sleep, and focus.
Our adjustments for sensory kids are always thoughtful, calm, and adapted to the child’s needs. We move at your child’s pace. We never force, and we never rush.
We work alongside your occupational therapist, not instead of them. Families who combine OT with regular chiropractic care often find that their children make faster progress in therapy, carry improvements into daily life more consistently, and generally seem calmer and more regulated day to day. SPD is one of many concerns we address through our broader pediatric chiropractic care.
We are a neurologically-focused practice, meaning the nervous system isn’t just part of what we do, it is the entire foundation of our approach. With INSiGHT scanning technology, ICPA-certified doctors, and a deeply warm, sensory-aware office environment, we are uniquely equipped to support the sensory kids who need us most. Families drive from across the St. Louis area to see us, and they’ll tell you why.
Yes, not by treating SPD directly, but by addressing the nervous system dysregulation that underlies it.
SPD occurs when the brain misprocesses sensory signals, a function governed entirely by the nervous system. When the autonomic nervous system is stuck in a sympathetic dominant state, sensory input feels amplified and threatening.
No. Chiropractic and OT work best together. OT teaches the child skills for coping with sensory input. Chiropractic helps the nervous system become more receptive to those skills.
We always follow the child’s lead. Adjustments are gentle, precise, and adapted to each child’s sensory needs.
Parents most commonly report improvements in sleep quality, emotional regulation, ability to tolerate sensory triggers, and overall temperament.
Let’s listen together and make a plan.
