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Services
Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation — tVNS — delivers gentle electrical stimulation to a branch of the vagus nerve at the ear. The vagus nerve carries autonomic signals between the brain and the body, and supporting its activity can shift the nervous system toward a more regulated baseline over time.
For neurodivergent adults, the relevance is specific. Many autistic, ADHD and AuDHD adults live with an autonomic system that is consistently running closer to high-defence than to rest. Years of sensory mismatch, masking, social demand and environmental friction can build a baseline that sits closer to overwhelm than it needs to. tVNS does not change neurodivergence. It does not aim to. What it can do is give the regulatory side of the nervous system more room to operate, so that the cost of the day starts a little lower than it has been.
It is an adjunct, not a first-line treatment. It sits alongside therapy, OT, sensory work, sleep and the rest of the plan rather than in place of them.
This service is for neurodivergent adults whose presentation includes chronic overwhelm, sensory recovery cost, sleep difficulty, emotional regulation that has felt brittle, or a sense that the nervous system has been held in a state of protection for a long time. It is not a first-line treatment for the underlying neurodivergence, and it is not a substitute for therapy, OT or sensory work.
The first appointment reads the autonomic and sensory picture against the broader neurodivergent picture. Sleep, sensory profile, recovery patterns, current therapy and OT work, prior interventions. The point is to know what the tVNS work is being asked to do alongside the rest of the plan.
What is reasonable to expect from tVNS — and what is not — is discussed before the device is set up. Contraindications (active implants, certain cardiac conditions) are reviewed. The trial is framed as a defined piece of work with markers being tracked.
The device is set up and the protocol explained — usually daily short sessions over several weeks. Settings are individualised to comfort and tolerance. Written instructions and troubleshooting support fit executive-function and sensory needs.
The defined trial runs for a set number of weeks with specific markers being tracked — sleep, sensory recovery cost, overwhelm frequency, emotional regulation, or whatever the person and clinician agreed at the start.
At the end of the trial, the markers are reviewed against the start. Where the change is meaningful and the person values it, sessions continue at a maintenance frequency or in cycles. Where the change is not present, that is named, and the trial closes rather than continuing indefinitely.
The biio. record holds the trial, the result and the decision so the rest of the neurodivergent team can see how tVNS is sitting inside the broader plan.
When tVNS is helpful for a neurodivergent nervous system, the change is usually quiet. Sleep arrives more easily. A demanding sensory environment costs a little less than it did. Recovery from social or sensory load takes less time. The system has not become a different system; it has gained a little more room in the same system.
tVNS does not change neurodivergence. The strongest published claims for tVNS in neurodivergent adults are not yet supported by the kind of evidence that allows certainty. The responsible inclusion in this pathway is to offer it where the picture supports a trial, to use it carefully alongside the rest of the work, and to read what actually happens rather than what was promised.