Supporting Your Child's Unique Nature: An Ayurvedic Perspective on Neurodiversity
At the time of writing, I've walked both the path of western medicine and immersed myself in the ocean of Ayurvedic medicine for over sixteen years. And over that course of time, I've seen a shift in how we understand human diversity, particularly when it comes to the wide spectrum of neurodiversity, and most especially in children.
Part of the inspiration behind my journey from practicing conventional primary care to founding The Buddha's Medicine comes from a deep conviction that every person - and especially every child - deserves healthcare that honors their unique neurological blueprint. No one should ever be crammed into a box that they don't fit in.
Those who are reading will know as well as I do that western medicine often focuses on diagnoses, deficits, and disorders. In contrast, Ayurvedic medicine first celebrates the inherent wisdom and uniqueness of individuality, and this includes the natural variations that make each person - and each child - wonderfully and totally themselves.
Awareness of neurodiversity in modern life has grown exponentially in recent years, and is finally showing signs of moving away from pathologizing neurological differences toward understanding them as natural variations in human brain function and behavior - or, in other words, normal human phenotypes. As I discussed in a previous post, neurodiversity encompasses the many different ways a human brain and personality can express themselves, from autism and ADHD to sensory sensitivities to genderqueerness, and also various learning styles. These are not disorders to be fixed, but rather, normal human expressions to be understood, supported, celebrated, and embraced.
For over five thousand years, Ayurveda has understood that what modern, western medicine is just now (in some places) beginning to embrace: that there is no single "normal" way of being human. Instead, Ayurveda teaches us to see each person through the lens of their unique selves, and to tailor all aspects of care to support their specific needs, strengths, and natural proclivities.
When it comes to supporting neurodiverse children, Ayurveda offers an incredible amount of insight: that a child's sensory sensitivities, hyperfocus, and unique communication style are expressions of their individuality and their gifts. These are gifts that, when properly supported, can become that child's greatest strengths.
In this post, I dive into how Ayurvedic principles provide a compassionate, strengths-based framework for understanding and supporting your neurodiverse child's unique way of being in the world. I hope to provide a glimpse into how you can honor your child's authentic self, while fostering their natural resilience and helping them thrive in their own beautiful expression of humanity.
Ayurvedic Insight: Profound Individuality
Among the most unique and health-forward features of Ayurveda is the concept that each and every individual person and living thing has a completely unique constitution. Broadly, we can think about a person's constitution in a few different ways:
Like a personality and body-type fingerprint;
A factor of genetics, epigenetics, and space-time;
Like the sum of all of the set points in their system from birth (body temperature, weight and weight distribution, metabolic rate, etc.); and
The particular and specific ratio of doshas (more on this below) present from the moment of conception.
We refer to a person's constitution as their prakrti ("prah-krih-tee") in Sanskrit.
A person's prakrti is defined by the way the three doshas (tridosha) - or physiologic categories of vata, pitta, and kapha - function in relation to each other in a state of optimal balance. Vata is the physiology of movement and transport; pitta is the physiology of heat and transformation; kapha is the physiology of structure, lubrication, and protection.
Any individual can have any particular ratio of the three doshas present on a body level (e.g. kapha 45%, pitta 32%, vata 23%), and this is often present at a personality level as well - though sometimes there is more nuance to it than that.
The doshas that are dominant and sub-dominant (places 1 and 2 in a person's prakrti, respectively) tend to influence that person's unique expression the most. This plays out at a neurological and psychological/emotional level as much as anywhere else. And the subtypes of the doshas (the upadoshas - a bit about this below) are even more essential to understand if one wants to tease out the nuances of personal expression.
This is all especially true with respect to neurodiversity.
At the time of writing, many of the prevailing perspectives on neurodiversity remain stuck in the past, and rooted in biases and misunderstandings held by neurotypical (non-autistic, non-ADHD, non-genderqueer, etc.) people. However, there are some still-budding schools of thought on neurodiversity put forward by those who are themselves neurodiverse, and these often align quite a lot with the Ayurvedic model.
Modern x Ancient Science
I could scour the internet for up-to-date research on this subject. Fortunately for me, though, I don't have to! Here is a summary with links to papers on and adjacent to this subject, sampled from the first half of 2025, and curated by the folks over at monotropism.org.
And that serves as my more-than-intentional segue into the modern concept of monotropism. Monotropism is a character trait observed fairly universally in neurodiverse people of all ages - especially children. It is the neurological tendency to tunnel in on one item, object, or topic to an almost super-human degree. Monotropic individuals are tree people, rather than forest people; they tend not to miss any subtly or detail relating to their subject of interest, and as they are applying their attention and focus, it can seem to them (and to others) like the world around them and that subject disappears.
The theory of monotropism, as elucidated further at monotropism.org, is the first (and, as far as I'm aware, the only) theory about autism and neurodiversity by an actual autistic person. The theory of monotropism stands apart for that reason, but it also stands out because there has been an increasing amount of evidence (see above) supporting it over time.
There are interesting parallels here between the theory of monotropism and what we observe of neuro-sparkly people through the lens of Ayurveda. Namely, that two particular upadoshas (anatomically/physiologically-specific subtypes) of vata and pitta are virtually always more prominent and pronounced in neurodiverse folks: prana vayu and sadhaka pitta.
Prana vayu is the subtype of vata with seats in the brain and heart. In part, it is responsible for the nervous signaling (frequency, speed, and force) that takes place in the brain, and that maintains awareness. It is also responsible for the intake of data through the senses.
Sadhaka pitta is the subtype of pitta with the same seats - the brain and the heart. Sadhaka is responsible for learning, processing, intellect, discernment, and self-esteem. It is also the faculty that enables focus.
When prana vayu and sadhaka pitta have particularly strong representation in an individual, such as in someone who is autistic, the result is something like a launching rocket; there is a profound amount of fuel and force concentrated into a relatively confined space, and when ignited, that fuel and force is all pointed straight at a single destination. In the case of a monotropic person, that destination is usually what we commonly refer to as a "special interest." And if you know any neurodiverse people, you'll know exactly what a special interest looks like.
So, What Do We Do with That?
We work with it, of course!
We'll hash out some specific strategies below, but here are the broad strokes and general concepts we'll want to have a shared understanding of going into these:
Neurodiverse children have many of the same needs as more "neurotypical" children; they need to feel seen, received, understood, and above all, safe.
When someone has as much air and fire as a monotropic kiddo does concentrated in their nervous system, it is essential that they have healthy, productive outlets for all of that. And their special interests need not just to be okay, but facilitated and encouraged.
And also, when someone has that much neuropsychological air and fire, it needs to be tempered and grounded such that it does not cause them to (emotionally and/or figuratively) explode.
Understanding neurodiversity through the lens of Ayurveda means a profound shift in perspective from the conventional one - it is a perspective that moves us away from deficit-based and disability-based thinking. Instead, it moves us toward celebration and proactive support of the beautiful variations in how human brains and nervous systems express themselves. When we recognize that, for example, a child's intense focus, sensory sensitivities, and unique communication patterns are expressions of their constitutional gifts rather than problems to be solved, we open the door to safe, quality, loving care.
In part 2 of this series, we'll explore specific, actionable strategies for supporting your neurodiverse child's unique constitution through nutrition, daily routines, environmental modifications, and movement practices. We'll also discuss the basics of how to integrate these ancient principles into modern family life, including working with schools and other caregivers.
As always, if you are curious about how our Ayurvedic, integrative health approach can support your health (or the health of a loved one), you can book a cost-free, 15-minute Consultation with Dr. Matt. Experience our neurodiverse-friendly environment firsthand and discover how we adapt our care to support your unique way of thinking and being.
Dr. Matt Van Auken, MD, MPH
Dr. Matt is an Ayurveda-trained, triple board-certified physician.
