BrainMax
Your sensory & nervous system guide
Hi! I'm BrainMax — your sensory & nervous system guide. Which sensory system are we supporting today? 🧠
Neurological & Trauma-Informed OT · Brewer, Maine
When a child's behavior, sensory processing, or emotional regulation dramatically shifts after an illness — it's often a nervous system response that medication alone can't fully address. Occupational therapy offers a body-based, nervous system-led path forward.
If your child was diagnosed with PANDAS or PANS, is recovering from chronic Lyme disease, or is experiencing lingering neurological symptoms after COVID-19 — you may have noticed that standard treatments don't fully resolve the sensory, behavioral, and regulatory challenges that came along with the illness. That's where occupational therapy comes in. Our team works with the nervous system directly — not around it.
Sudden-onset OCD, tics, sensory sensitivity, and emotional dysregulation triggered by streptococcal or other infections.
Neurological symptoms including sensory hypersensitivity, fatigue, cognitive fog, and nervous system dysregulation.
Persistent sensory sensitivity, fatigue, interoception dysregulation, and autonomic nervous system disruption after COVID-19.
Nervous system dysregulation held in the body — hypervigilance, shutdown, sensory overload, and fight/flight/freeze responses.
Neurological and behavioral changes following autoimmune inflammation affecting sensory processing and self-regulation.
Teens and children whose emotional regulation, mood, and sensory tolerance shifted significantly after any acute illness.
PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections) causes the immune system to mistakenly attack brain tissue, disrupting the basal ganglia — the area responsible for movement, habits, and emotional regulation. The result is a sudden-onset change in sensory processing, emotional tolerance, and regulatory capacity. OT addresses these neurological changes directly: we work with the sensory system, the primitive reflex pattern, and the body's stress response to help restore a regulated baseline.
Illness often leaves the sensory system hypersensitive or dysregulated. We use targeted proprioceptive, vestibular, and tactile input to help the nervous system find its regulated baseline again.
Illness and trauma can re-activate primitive reflexes that were previously integrated. We assess and address reflex patterns contributing to anxiety, sensory sensitivity, and behavioral dysregulation.
We use somatic, body-based approaches that help the nervous system move out of chronic fight/flight/freeze — without requiring the child to verbally process or recall traumatic experiences.
We teach families specific co-regulation strategies, sensory tools, and daily nervous system support techniques so healing continues at home between sessions.
Many post-illness conditions disrupt interoception — the ability to sense what's happening inside the body. We rebuild this foundation so children can recognize and respond to their own internal signals.
We work alongside your child's medical team — pediatricians, PANDAS specialists, infectious disease, and mental health providers — to support a whole-system approach to recovery.
Self-pay families can book a $150 evaluation directly through our HIPAA-secure scheduler. Insurance families: have your PCP fax a referral to 207-945-8089. Telehealth evaluations are available same-week with no waitlist — ideal for families navigating active recovery.
We assess sensory processing patterns, primitive reflex retention, autonomic nervous system regulation, interoception, and current functional abilities. This gives us a complete picture of where the nervous system is and what it needs.
We build a plan that addresses your child's specific neurological and sensory profile — not a generic protocol. Frequency, focus, and home program are all tailored to where your child is in their recovery.
Sessions typically involve direct nervous system work with your child alongside specific strategies for you to implement at home. Progress is tracked and the plan adjusts as the nervous system responds.
Medical treatment (antibiotics, IVIG, or other interventions) addresses the underlying immune mechanism in PANDAS. But the sensory, behavioral, and regulatory symptoms often persist even after medical treatment begins. OT targets these downstream nervous system effects — the hypersensitivities, reflex disruptions, and dysregulation — that medical treatment alone doesn't fully address. OT and medical care work together, not instead of each other.
Emerging research indicates that Long COVID can disrupt autonomic nervous system function, increase sensory hypersensitivity, cause interoceptive dysregulation, and trigger fatigue responses similar to post-viral syndrome. Children may become newly sensitive to sounds, lights, or textures, or show increased emotional dysregulation and difficulty with attention — even without a prior sensory history.
It can be. Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections (Bartonella, Babesia) can affect the central nervous system, causing symptoms that look behavioral but are rooted in neurological inflammation — anxiety, mood lability, sensory sensitivity, difficulty concentrating, and emotional dysregulation. These symptoms deserve a nervous system evaluation, not just a behavioral or psychiatric one.
Yes — we accept select adult cases for trauma-informed and neurological OT focused on Lyme disease recovery, Long COVID, PTSD, and chronic nervous system dysregulation. In-clinic appointments are available at our Brewer, Maine location, and telehealth is available nationwide.
Book a pediatric OT evaluation at our Brewer, Maine clinic, or start with a same-week telehealth eval. Our team will help you understand whether OT is the right next step for your family.
📍 41 Acme Road, Suite 4, Brewer, ME 04412 · 📞 (207) 300-7598 · 📠 Fax 207-945-8089
Your sensory & nervous system guide
Hi! I'm BrainMax — your sensory & nervous system guide. Which sensory system are we supporting today? 🧠