Chiropractic, OT, & Speech: The PB&J Of Brain Development in Minnetonka

At our Minnetonka MN chiropractic clinic, we are honored to take care of many kids with neurodevelopmental challenges such as ASD, ADHD, SPD, and speech and behavioral issues and we are learning more and more about what it takes to truly help these kids break free of their health challenges and live a thriving life. We’re also learning how amazing you, the parents of these kiddos are! You are constantly searching for and trying new things to help your kids live an optimal life. You often tell us that your kids are in Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy, and usually other awesome therapies and programs as well and we think that’s great!

How Does Chiropractic Correlate In Minnetonka?

A common question we get is “Well my kid is already in OT and Speech, how does Chiropractic fit in with that?”. That is a question we love because Chiropractic, OT, and Speech really are the PB&J of helping these kiddos! How?? Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy have the goal of integrating new behavioral and developmental patterns into your child’s brain so they can function and communicate better. Here’s where Chiropractic comes in: to allow the nervous system to be in a calm, open and organized state so those new patterns they are working on in OT and Speech can fully and optimally integrate into the nervous system and stay there!

When it comes to brain development, there are two states your child’s nervous system can be in. One is the sympathetic state which is also called the fight, flight, or freeze state. When your child’s brain is in this state, the nervous system is in a more closed state. Their nervous system is focused on survival and not learning new tasks and progressing in development. The other state is the parasympathetic state which is responsible for rest, digestion, growth, and development state. When your child’s brain is in this state, the nervous system is in an open state and is able to learn new skills and progress in development socially, emotionally, and academically.

That’s where the neurological and gentle chiropractic adjustments that Dr. Julia and Dr. Natalie provide come in. The adjustment allows the brain to shift out of that sympathetic/closed state and into the parasympathetic/open state so your child’s nervous system can focus on learning and brain development.
After our practice members have been under care, they are getting better reports from their OTs, Speech Therapists, tutors, and the other amazing providers your child works with! It really does take a village to help your child thrive and we’re honored to be an essential part of this village in helping kids live life at their peak potential.