Tuning Brains, Not Personalities: How Neurotherapy Helps Autism And Developmental Delays

How Does Neurotherapy Help with Autism and Developmental Delays?

What if the brain could revisit missed steps and finally catch up? We sit down with Dr. Heather Putney to unpack how neurotherapy helps kids and adults with autism and developmental delays move from overwhelm to traction—by targeting the exact networks that make daily life hard. From sensory overload and impulsivity to reading struggles and social disconnect, we map the brain’s patterns and train the system toward developmentally appropriate speeds, so progress becomes steady and visible at home, school, and work.

You’ll hear why timelines differ for developmental conditions, and how temporary regressions can signal real forward movement as the brain retraces skipped milestones. We break down the role of mu rhythms—those patterns that can make someone feel “spaced out”—and explain how calming them boosts social tuning and awareness without changing personality. We also explore specific wins families report: fewer meltdowns, more flexible thinking, smoother mornings, and meaningful reading gains that unlock confidence and classroom success.

A major theme is the gut-brain axis. Many clients struggle with constipation, diarrhea, or discomfort that fuels mood swings and sensory reactivity. Dr. Heather shares how targeted frequencies for both the brain and the gut, plus attention to the insula’s role in interoception, can stabilize regulation and attention. We also highlight the power of collaboration with speech and occupational therapists, psychiatrists, and schools—and a standout case where brain mapping clues pointed a team toward PANS/PANDAS, transforming a teen’s trajectory once treated.

If you’re seeking practical, science-backed ways to help a neurodiverse brain thrive, this conversation offers a clear, hopeful roadmap. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs it, and leave a review to help more families find evidence-based brain health tools that change daily life for the better.

To learn more about Transformative Neurotherapy visit:
https://www.TransformativeNeurotherapy.org
Transformative Neurotherapy
570 Lincoln Ave. 
Bellevue, PA 15202 
412-204-7397  

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to the Transformative Neurotherapy Podcast with your host, Dr. Heather Putney, founder and executive director of Transformative Neurotherapy. This is the place where healing happens faster. Because let's face it, your brain doesn't come with an owner's manual until now. Here we take a holistic approach to brain health, bringing together science, mind-body harmony, and the tools you need to optimize your well-being. Whether you're a high performer, executive, athlete, longevity hacker, or just someone tired of your brain working against you, Dr. Putney is here to help you unlock your full potential. From brain fog to chronic stress, we're covering it all. So you can finally experience brain health, mind harmony, and total well-being. Ready to get on stock? Let's get started.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

From sensory overload to speech delays, discover how neurotherapy is helping children and adults thrive in ways traditional therapies often miss. Welcome everyone. I'm Julie Schwenzer, co-host and producer in the studio with Dr. Heather Putney, founder and executive director of transformative neurotherapy. Dr. Heather, it's always great to be with you. Let's explore today's question. How does neurotherapy help with autism and developmental delays?

Why Progress Takes Longer

Developmental Catch-Up And Regressions

Symptom-Targeted Brain Regions

Reading Gains And Learning Support

Mu Rhythm And Social Tuning

Real-World Social Improvements

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Great. We actually get quite a few clients that make that that come into the clinic with this. I would say we definitely see some adults. The adults tend to be on what used to be called the Asperger's, you know, thing. It's not, it's not classified like that anymore, but most people recognize that, you know, kind of seemingly high functioning, you know, but then feeling kind of stuck in some way. So we get we get a decent amount of clients like that. But we also get a lot of kiddos that are really struggling in school and a lot of the other supports just aren't working for them. And they'll come in and they may have a mix of things, you know, autism and developmental delays. There's there can be a lot of overlap. So you may have autism and ADHD, autism and OCD, learning disabilities and and so forth. And so there tends to be a lot of comorbid conditions uh going on here with these types of with these types of conditions. And so we see we see quite a bit of that. But the fortunate thing is is we are able to to help them move forward. When it's developmental delays, however, it's a little bit longer road. So whereas some of our some of the conditions that we treat, like like depression and anxiety, those can actually move pretty quickly, you know, with the neurotherapy, you know, as far as that goes. But with developmental delays and autism, the brain tends to be running a little slower in certain in certain areas. And so it needs to kind of be almost rehabilitated and kind of sped up to what would be, you know, develop me development little developmentally appropriate speeds. So sometimes these kiddos have had some sort of like hypoxic damage, you know, maybe in the with a birth trauma where they lost oxygen. Sometimes it could be near drowning episodes or or just you know, some accidents that happen. So a lack of oxygen can create some developmental delays in the brain. And so what we're doing is we're kind of like sending resources and like kind of helping the brain kind of catch up. And so what you'll see is like the kid might come in and they might be eight or 10, but when we start stimulating some of the brain to try to catch up those regions that, you know, are slower than would be expected for their age, you may see them start, you know, going through some certain developmental, you know, stages, you know, kind of like repeating things that they that they skipped. You might even see like a kid regress and start bedwedd again, but he's like going through the thing that won't last long, you know. But there's there's some pieces where they're just kind of like going through some things. So you you sometimes see some things go back before they go forward, but they're kind of like catching up. And it's just, it will be when we're working with these conditions. I just want to be straightforward with, you know, families that we will see, you know, we do see healing and we do see movement, but it is not as quick. It will be more treatment than some of the other conditions. But let me explain like some of the examples, you know, some of the changes that we've, you know, seen with the kids. So when you've met someone with autism, you've met one person with autism. And so as far as like what symptoms we're treating, it depends on the behavioral characteristics or the struggles of that child. Some are very sensory, you know, or they're really struggling with a lot of sensory input, so that can cause them to overwhelm and so forth. And so we'll probably see some dysregulation along the sensory motor strip or the sensory integration centers, and we'll work there. Some tend to show more behavioral, you know, maybe they can be a little aggressive or just a lot of overwhelm, you know, impulsivity and so forth. So we'll be working in a different region, some different regions of the brain and whatnot. So we're targeting, you know, more this, we're targeting the symptoms. So the treatment's going to look at what we see in the brain, but also we're going to be targeting the symptoms that are most disturbing to the kids in the family. We work with a lot, we might see kids with learning disabilities, dyslexia. So when we're kind of in this area, we see kids like really struggling with reading and becoming strong readers. Like it's pretty impressive, you know, some of the gains that they can make with just a little boost, you know. So some of the examples of things that we'll see. One of the things that we see in the brain is a struggle to kind of perceive, you know, perceive others in a certain way. So that like kind of that tuning in, we see a mu rhythm frequently. And about 70% of autistic clients will see a mu rhythm in the brain. And that's basically like a functional disconnect between the frontal lobe and you know, the temporal and parietal regions. And it and it kind of like makes people a little bit spacey, you know, and they're like not, they're not tuning in. So that there's there's so a lot of like cues that people with autism can sometimes miss. You know, when that mu rhythm is kicking on, it's it's creating a functional disengagement. So sometimes what we'll do is try to calm down that mu rhythm, and then they're able to kind of like see and perceive things a little differently than they than they had it before. He's working with one teenager, and the mom said, you know, what was really cool after a little bit, they weren't looking for this thing in particular, but she just noticed that he was tuning into the family more, like noticing like when she was stressed out, or like he would like maybe help clear a dish, like notice that it needed to be done and do it, or like notice a sibling that was maybe struggling and and and maybe like help in a way that like he never would have thought to do before, you know? And so it was just really neat. He still had all of his personalities. We're not changing the person, but his just ability to tune in increased, and that that helped him socially. And that was a you know, that was a you know, one of the little victories that we had in that case.

Gut-Brain Axis And GI Relief

SPEAKER_01 7:03

Oh, that's wonderful. It's wonderful to hear that. And you mentioned some of the improvements that families have reported, like improvement in reading, and you said like him being able to tune in better and um uh sensory perception. Are there any other improvements that a lot of families report after these treatments for kids or adults?

Individualized Journeys And Overlap

SPEAKER_02 7:22

Um yes, but I guess the point is that it really depends on what we're trying to target because everybody comes in with their certain symptoms. I will say also that we also see a lot of GI issues with these kids. And there's actually some really great frequencies that we can, you know, put on the gut that can actually really help. So you may they get maybe diarrhea, constipation, or whatnot. So we'll actually work a lot more. We really try to work a lot with the br the the brain gut axis, especially with this clientele. So we may put certain frequencies that are really good, you know, for the gut, as well as frequencies on the brain to kind of like balance both at the same time because we know serotonin is predated in the gut and some other things, you know. So we'll really work on trying to to calm the symptom the symptoms going on. Sometimes there's an insula issue with, you know, with the gut that that communicates with the gut, and we see that up here, and that can also help with some symptoms as we're regulating that if that's if that's what's going on. So, but like I said, it's just so it's it's tough to say generalities because everybody presents just a little bit differently. And like I say, there's so much overlap in in this, you know, developmental space, you know, between autism, ADHD, you know, OCD, whatever. So it, you know, it's just a you know, it's kind of a mixed bag with what people come in with. So just so their journeys, each journey is unique. It's just like every brain's unique.

Teaming With Other Specialists

SPEAKER_01 8:45

And how do you collaborate with other specialists like speech or occupational therapists? Because that must be a big part of this.

PANS/PANDAS Insight And Breakthrough

SPEAKER_02 8:53

Yeah, it's really important, um, especially these kids that are more complex. And let's face it, we get a lot of the really complex kids because they've kind of failed everything else, you know. So a lot of times they've got a lot of specialists they work with. So one of the first things is when when I first do the the brain scan and I work on that report, you know, I'm getting a list of who are you working with and try to get a release of information so that I can, you know, communicate with them. And then also we'll share the report findings. We'll invite them to the to the results session, you know, so they can collaborate and we can kind of, you know, team up. I was working with one childhood psychiatrist, and based on some some of the things we saw going on, that we could tell that there's metabolic things going on with the kids. And and you know, we did a little consultation and we got uh, you know, from some of the things we're seeing, it was meeting some profiles with other kids that had like pans and pandas. And so we talked to the doctor, they ended up going and like looking into that and treating the kid for that, and it just revolutionalized, you know, his treatment. I mean, we were doing some neurotherapy that was helping him, but it wasn't. There was something else that still needed to go, and and really kind of honing in and kind of seeing some signs and then asking the doctors to kind of follow up on that was really like really targeting that. That was the real source of the issue for the kid. And when that got targeted, you know, he graduated neurotherapy and he he was doing so much better. So we definitely want to collaborate with the other providers out there.

Closing And Next Steps

SPEAKER_01 10:20

That was powerful, Dr. Heather. Thank you for sharing your expertise, and we'll see you next time on the Transformative Neurotherapy Podcast.

unknown 10:29

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 10:32

You've been listening to the Transformative Neurotherapy Podcast with Dr. Heather Putney. Remember, your brain isn't supposed to hold you back, it's supposed to power you forward. So stop letting it crash your party and start letting it do its job. If you're ready to optimize brain health, sharpen your focus, and age like a fine wine, schedule your free consultation today at Transformative Neurotherapy.org. Or call us at 412-204-7397. Because here, healing happens faster. See you next time.