Welcome to Episode 238 of Autism Parenting Secrets.

This week, Sarge Goodchild of Active Healing reveals how foundational movement can transform children with autism, cerebral palsy, and other developmental delays.

Sarge shares his hands-on, non-verbal therapy approach, focusing on the pons, a key brain area that supports coordination, bonding, and language. By addressing this foundation first, children can unlock new developmental possibilities.

We explore how milestones like crawling and creeping build physical and cognitive strength. Sarge explains how simple exercises and gravity-based movements help children, particularly those with cerebral palsy, progress toward independence.

Sarge highlights how movement affects digestion, inflammation, and overall health. He stresses the importance of reducing toxins and adopting a holistic approach to support natural development.

Drawing from his own experience overcoming epilepsy, Sarge shows the power of movement to improve brain function and resilience.

The secret this week is…

Engage In ACTIVE Healing
You’ll Discover:

• Three Key Things To Have In Place (4:18)
• Why The Pons Is So Important (8:19)
• How Active Healing Differs From PT and OT (17:24)
• The First of Three Factors To Address (28:29)
• The Second of Three Factors To Address (30:43)
• The Third of Three Factors To Address (32:21)
• Ways To Prevent SIDS (36:39)
• Sarge’s Backstory (40:14)
• The Relationship Between The Midbrain and Seizures (43:52)

About Our Guest:

Sargent L. Goodchild Jr. began life as a brain-injured child. At four years of age, Sargent was diagnosed with a seizure disorder. None of the many professionals who met with Sargent were capable of seeing his potential. The best medical advice his parents were given was to put him on anticonvulsant and muscle-relaxing medication. He was eventually placed on various combinations of seven different medications.  The effects of which were incredible toxicity without seizure control.  It was too much for his parents to bear.  Through a friend, they found neurodevelopmental therapy, and within nine months of beginning a functional movement program, he became both seizure and medication-free, as he still is today.

Sargent has been working with children with various disabilities/challenges for 30 years as a practitioner of NeuroDevelopmental Movement ®. He has been the subject of numerous newspaper articles and was recognized for his accomplishment with an internationally adopted child in a news story for WBZ-TV in Boston that was subsequently picked up by the CBS affiliates in New York City and Philadelphia. In addition to running Actie Healing, Inc., Sargent is on the board of advisors for Documenting Hope, Bioregulatory Medicine Institute, and Healing Complex Kids.

www.activehealing.org

References in The Episode:

• Autism Research Institute

Additional Resources:

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