Non Linear Learning - Rethinking Education for Neurodivergent Learners

If your child has trouble falling asleep, moving from a state of distress to a state of calm, if they have trouble with digestion, they likely have something called low Vagal Tone. The Vagus Nerve is the longest nerve in the body and touches so many aspects of our functioning and is known to be a factor especially in children with digestive, neurological and inflammatory concerns, and I think that accounts for most of us kids with disabilities.

Dr. Navaz Habib, the author of “Activate Your Vagus Nerve” and host of “The Health Upgrade Podcast” talks to us about thing you can do, even if your child is apraxic / dyspraxic. 

Check out this podcast to get 3 things you can implement right away to upgrade your child’s digestion, sleep and mood.

More on Gut Health at www.functionalnutritionforkids.com/guthealth

Disclaimer: The information in this Podcast is for educational purposes only. Vaishnavi Sarathy, Ph.D. is an educator, not a doctor, specifically not your child’s doctor. Please consult your physician before implementing any supplement or diet recommendations.

Can you change your genetic expression based on what you eat? Conversely, if you are one of those people that are chronically deficient in say, Iron or Vitamin D, are your genes to blame? And what can you do about it?

How can this apply to factors that affect Autism/ADHD symptoms?

In this episode, Amanda Archibald, pioneer in genomic nutrition, explains to us how - not only do genes affect how you can process food, but you can actually fine tune the food you eat to optimize your genes?

Whether you need help with Omega-3 supplementation, or whether you need to USE Omega-3s to modulate some “slacker” genes, nutrigenomics is the field you have been waiting for.

You can find Amanda Archibald at www.genomickitchen.com In the meantime, we are using nutrigenomics practically in our 5-day dosa challenge. Sign up at www.functionalnutritionforkids.com/dosa to find out how to make a dosa over 5 days and why a Dosa is the perfect breakfast for your child.

Disclaimer: The information in this Podcast is for educational purposes only. Vaishnavi Sarathy, Ph.D. is an educator, not a doctor, specifically not your child’s doctor. Please consult your physician before implementing any supplement or diet recommendations.

If your child struggles with anxiety, aggression, seizure or even sleep issues, how many times have you had someone advice you - “Have you tried CBD”? Every time I hear this, I wonder how CBD can be the answer to EVERY problem?

It turns out, it is quite possible.

Dr. Julie Buckley makes her second appearance on Episode 93 of Functional Nutrition and Learning for Kids in this fantastic deep dive into CBD and how to get started for your child!

I learned 3 important things:

1. Pure CBD (without terpenes, without THC) is not a sedative or psychoactive
2. It is all about the dose
3. Water soluble CBD is the way to go.

You can reach Dr. Buckley at www.HealthyUstore.org

If you loved this episode, please share your rating at www.ratethispodcast.com/vaish

Disclaimer: This is not medical advice. It is meant for educational purposes only. Please consult your doctor before making supplement changes for your child.

Disclaimer: The information in this Podcast is for educational purposes only. Vaishnavi Sarathy, Ph.D. is an educator, not a doctor, specifically not your child’s doctor. Please consult your physician before implementing any supplement or diet recommendations.

Today’s episode is one of a kind - an expert leads us into incredible detail into the physical and physiological principles behind picky eating and other feeding disorders, specially in children and adults with Down syndrome.

If that sounds complex, I assure you that while it is complex, it is not complicated. Dr. Kay Toomey, in this episode talks to us about postural stability and breathing and how they relate to Feeding Delays. 

I love it when an expert takes us back to the basics. We are often so busy looking for hacks to a particular issue that we lose track of the fundamentals. This episode is just that - a journey back to the very basics, so we can pick up what we missed and address the root cause of picky eating.

You can find Dr. Toomey at www.sosapproachtofeeding.com and you can find her freebie made just for you - a collection of Low Oral Motor Demand Foods at www.functionalnutritionforkids.com/feedingsos

Clicking on the above link will also give you an ACTION handout of this podcast. 

Disclaimer: The information in this Podcast is for educational purposes only. Vaishnavi Sarathy, Ph.D. is an educator, not a doctor, specifically not your child’s doctor. Please consult your physician before implementing any supplement or diet recommendations.

What information does LIGHT bring to your child? Can artificial sources of light actually lower attention and cause dysregulation? Can you hear a light? 

Roudy Nassif, founder of VivaRays, and all-round light wiz leaves us with a lot of really new information about how light influences every body system we have and leaves us with 3 tips to use light to our benefit (and our kids’ benefit)

1. Go outside and witness the sunrise for at least 15 mins. 

I just started doing this, and I can attest that I feel a lot more energetic in the mornings.

Listen on for more of Roudy’s insights on attention, light, sensory overwhelm and regulation! You can find more information at http://www.vivarays.com/

Disclaimer: The information in this Podcast is for educational purposes only. Vaishnavi Sarathy, Ph.D. is an educator, not a doctor, specifically not your child’s doctor. Please consult your physician before implementing any supplement or diet recommendations.

Is school the right place for Education? Today we discuss this age-old question with some interesting twists.

If you are the parent of a child with Autism / Down Syndrome / Cerebral Palsy / Other hidden disabilities, you might find that the questions about school are very different for you.  I provide an decision / question framework to help you decide for yourself.

Disclaimer: The information in this Podcast is for educational purposes only. Vaishnavi Sarathy, Ph.D. is an educator, not a doctor, specifically not your child’s doctor. Please consult your physician before implementing any supplement or diet recommendations.

Wouldn’t you love it if there were natural, plant-sourced, HERBAL alternatives to everything chronic you have been struggling with for your or your child, whether that be attention or digestive issues or immune support?

Today’s guest Dr. Mary Bove is a herbal medicine expert and takes us through the ins and outs of herbal medicine, when it works and what is often missed in application for kids.

Here’s a spoiler: Dr. Bove’s favorite herbs for kids under 5 are:

1. Fennel Seed
2. Chamomile Flowers
3. Lemon Balm

You can use these in teas / extracts / baths / glycerin extracts / add them to water or juices, and so on….

You can read Dr. Mary Love at [email protected]

And make sure to get your free Gut Health Kit at www.functionalnutritionforkids.com/guthealth

Disclaimer: The information in this Podcast is for educational purposes only. Vaishnavi Sarathy, Ph.D. is an educator, not a doctor, specifically not your child’s doctor. Please consult your physician before implementing any supplement or diet recommendations.

NOTE: This Episode is Available on YOUTUBE at https://youtu.be/aGRTnqxvsqg Danny Whitty is a nonspeaking Autistic and Apraxic man, who was unable to communicate his thoughts for 30 years of his life.

He now uses S2C (Spelling to Communicate) to share his deep insight, advocacy, writing and poetry with the world. In this episode, Danny shares about the people that have made a difference in his life, about how access to communication has completely transformed the way he shares, and the immense importance of communication and respect in the world of Non-Speaking Autistic people.

If you have an Autistic child who is either non-speaking or minimally speaking or “unreliably” speaking (which means that there is a body-mind disconnect, that older autistics often talk about where what one says isn’t really what one wants to say) - I do hope you consider RPM or S2C to take your child’s communication journey onward.

In this episode, Danny speaks about his experience with ABA, and how that might have led to even simple communication being unreliable (saying YES when means NO, for example).

You can find Danny at https://dannywithwords.com/ and https://dannywithwords.com/the-ocean-us-podcast/ .

Learn more about Assuming Intelligence and Non-Linear Education at www.functionalnutritionforkids.com/nonlineareducation

Disclaimer: The information in this Podcast is for educational purposes only. Vaishnavi Sarathy, Ph.D. is an educator, not a doctor, specifically not your child’s doctor. Please consult your physician before implementing any supplement or diet recommendations.

Some studies indicate that up to 50% of preschool aged kids might be considered picky eaters.

It also reveals, on a more subtle level that most strategies that are used to help picky eating are behavioral / parenting, though Picky Eating is typically NOT a behavior response, nor a result of poor parenting. 

Behavior is communication, what is viewed as negative behavior is an expression of pain / discomfort / frustration or even a lack of security or safety. 

We are going to review the 18 most suggested tips for picky eaters and see what’s common between them, what works and what does NOT work!

These are not MY tips, I agree with some of them, I actually don’t agree with some of them, but this is what you are likely to hear the most often when you look up picky eating.  Let us sort through 18 of the most common tips! Do check out my picky eating toolkit - for a functional nutrition perspective - at www.functionalnutritionforkids.com/eatwell

Disclaimer: The information in this Podcast is for educational purposes only. Vaishnavi Sarathy, Ph.D. is an educator, not a doctor, specifically not your child’s doctor. Please consult your physician before implementing any supplement or diet recommendations.

Laura Fuentes, Author of my favorite cookbook Taco Tuesdays, mom, CEO and Instagram Star talks to us in very clear wisdom about what it takes to work with food struggles, dining table power struggles and mom fatigue.

If you think that in your home, picky eating may be more of a communication - mis-communication issue or a struggle that has less biochemistry and more behavior, this is the podcast for you!

Laura shares 3 tips about how you can manage your mindset right away:

1. Cook One meal
2. Stop micromanaging the eating process
3. Look at nutrition as a big picture - instead of meal to meal

I especially liked the last point. But there is a lot more wisdom here. Please listen on….

You can find Laura at www.momables.com

Find your Free Picky Eating Toolkit at www.functionalnutritionforkids.com/eatwell

Disclaimer: The information in this Podcast is for educational purposes only. Vaishnavi Sarathy, Ph.D. is an educator, not a doctor, specifically not your child’s doctor. Please consult your physician before implementing any supplement or diet recommendations.