The Neurodivergent Naturopath

07/10/2026

When your child can’t currently manage new foods, “just add more variety” can leave you wondering what the heck you’re supposed to do in the meantime. We can start with what they already eat.

That means looking closely at their accepted foods, including the brands and preparations that work, what those foods provide and where there may be nutritional gaps.

Then we look at what could make eating easier. Having familiar food ready when they’re able to eat. Helping with preparation or packaging. Finding manageable opportunities for meals and snacks within their day. Any adjustments to familiar foods need to be discussed openly. A small change in taste or texture can matter a lot, so preserving a dependable option is important.

As a mum of a child with ARFID, I understand wanting to support their nutrition while protecting the foods they rely on. Supporting nourishment is valuable work. We can work from what your child can manage today.

03/10/2026

As a mum of a child with ARFID, I know what it’s like when their food list keeps getting smaller. I know the worry about whether they’re getting what they need, and how it feels to have those concerns dismissed when you’re working so hard to keep them fed.

Losing one more familiar food can feel enormous. Especially when you’ve already tried the suggestions, bought the alternatives and put so much thought into keeping them nourished. When a family brings this concern to me, my starting point is understanding what’s changed.

- Has something about the food become different?
- Is eating uncomfortable?
- Are they managing enough food and fluid?
- What does their child communicate about their experience?

I also want to know what you’ve already tried and what’s helped, so we can build from there.

The first priority might be addressing discomfort, supporting nutrition through accepted foods or involving another practitioner for further assessment. We can then work together on how and when food exploration feels manageable.

Your concerns deserve to be taken seriously. You and your child deserve support that understands the complexity and gives you a realistic place to start.

26/09/2026

Think about how you feel after a terrible night’s sleep.

You’re more irritable, small inconveniences feel much bigger and your patience disappears far more quickly than usual. You may struggle to concentrate, make decisions or cope with noise...Our children experience this too.

After a difficult night, getting dressed may take longer, a small change can feel enormous and emotions may sit much closer to the surface.

They aren’t waking up with the same amount of capacity they have after a restorative night’s sleep. Reducing expectations can help them get through the day with the energy they do have. A slower morning, fewer unnecessary demands or extra recovery time after school may make a real difference.

When your child’s mood, eating, concentration or regulation changes, it’s always worth asking how they’ve been sleeping. Just like us, everything can feel harder when they’re tired.

22/09/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗽 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆.
Imagine your child’s sensory capacity as a bucket. Noise adds a little. Uncomfortable clothing adds a little more. Changes, demands, hunger, poor sleep and social interaction continue filling it throughout the day.

On a day when the bucket starts fairly empty, your child may manage these things without much difficulty. But on another day, their bucket may already be close to overflowing before they’ve even left school.

Then one tiny thing happens at home.
Their cup is the wrong colour.
Someone speaks too loudly.
You ask them to put their shoes away.
And they explode 💥

That final moment might look completely out of proportion when we only see the last drop. Their body is responding to everything already sitting in the bucket.

This is why your child’s sensory needs can change from one day to the next. Creating quiet, reducing demands or offering space can help empty some of the bucket before the next drop arrives.

21/09/2026

Your child may be perfectly capable of having a shower, starting their schoolwork or getting into the car, but moving away from what they’re already doing can feel incredibly hard.

A transition asks their brain to stop one activity, shift attention, process what’s happening next and find enough momentum to begin again. There may also be an emotional or sensory shift involved. Moving from a quiet bedroom into a noisy bathroom requires more than simply walking between two rooms.

This is why your child might resist for 20 minutes and then manage the actual task with very little difficulty.

Warnings, visual cues and clear information about what’s happening next can reduce the load. Your child may also need time to finish their thought, reach a natural stopping point or carry part of their current activity into the next space.

When transitions are regularly difficult, consider what your child is being asked to leave, what they’re moving towards and how much capacity they have available at that point in the day.

20/09/2026

A little look at what I’ve been supporting in clinic lately..

It’s been such a varied week, with a mix of women’s health, paediatrics, gut health and some deeper investigation work.

For my women’s health clients, we’ve been looking at:
✨ Lupus and Sjögren’s syndrome
✨ Adenomyosis and endometriosis
✨ PCOS and metabolic health
✨ Chronic recurring urinary tract infections
✨ Hormonal, inflammatory and immune health

On the paediatric side, ADHD has been a big focus.
I’ve had lots of parents looking for natural options to explore first, as well as families wanting additional support alongside their child’s medication.

For children already taking medication, our work has included finding practical ways to soften afternoon rebounds, support sleep and nervous system regulation, and keep enough food going in when their appetite disappears. Maintaining nutrition and supporting growth milestones is so important, even when eating suddenly becomes much harder.

We’ve also been digging a little deeper with functional testing, including a comprehensive gut map and hair tissue mineral analysis, to help us better understand what may be contributing beneath the surface.

This is what I love about naturopathic care. Two people may arrive with the same diagnosis, but their bodies, needs and everyday lives can look completely different. The goal is always to understand the whole person and create a plan that feels realistic for them.

If you’re new here, I’m Sarah, a bachelor qualified naturopath, counsellor and feeding practitioner with a special interest in neurodivergent children, gut health, nutrition and feeding.

Welcome to my page 💛

18/09/2026

𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗜 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲.
Life can get incredibly loud, both around me and inside my own head. I’ve learnt that I feel more grounded when I make space for the things that settle me.

🌿 Spending time in nature
📖 Reading my Kindle when I have the space to escape into a fantasy world
🎨 Painting and creating art
☕ Enjoying a quiet coffee
🐾 And Sage, of course!

Peace doesn’t usually arrive as a completely calm day with nothing to do. I find it in small pockets between appointments, parenting, studying, housework and everything else needing my attention.

These are the things that help me pause, reconnect with myself and make the world feel a little quieter.

What brings more peace into your world?

17/09/2026

16/09/2026

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗮𝘁.

Eating together can feel connecting for one person and completely overwhelming for another.

The sound of chewing, cutlery scraping against plates, strong food smells and multiple conversations can create a huge amount of sensory input. Some children also become very aware of people watching what they eat.

“Are they going to ask me to try that?”
“Did they notice I haven’t eaten much?”
“Are they waiting to see if I like it?”

That feeling of being observed can make it even harder to eat. A quieter place at the table may help, whereas another child may eat more comfortably in a separate room or in their bedroom, with supervision adjusted for their age and safety needs.

There can still be opportunities for family connection outside the dinner table. We don’t need to make a child tolerate an overwhelming environment for a meal to count as family time, our goal is to find a setting where their body feels settled enough to eat.

14/09/2026

I used to really enjoy cooking, until it was just part of the daily grind.

Over time, it became something that brought me a lot of stress. It was never JUST the cooking. First I had to decide what we were having, consider what everyone liked and work out who’d actually eat what. Then came the shopping, preparation and finally cooking it all.... By the time dinner reached the table, I was already exhausted & executive functioning was spent.

I know delegating isn’t possible in every household, but it’s made a huge difference in ours. My 15 year old cooks one night when he isn’t working. The younger two each have a night where they help an adult, then us adults cook two each. We also spread everyone’s nights across the week. My cooking nights aren’t back to back, so a night away from the kitchen actually feels like a break.

I understand the mental load families carry around food because I live it too. This is why I’ll never hand someone a beautiful, nutritionally perfect plan that requires hours of planning, shopping and cooking every day.

Food still needs to work on the busy days, the low capacity days and the days when nobody has much left to give. Real life has to fit into the plan.