My Child Isn’t 'Naughty’ or ‘Lazy’ They’re Overloaded Understanding Behaviour Through a Nervous System Lens

Many parents come to us feeling worried, frustrated or quietly upset by the labels their child has picked up.

Words like lazy, defiant, unmotivated, disinterested or attention-seeking are often used when a child struggles to meet expectations. Over time, parents may even start to wonder whether they have a point.

From an Occupational Therapy perspective, these labels rarely tell the full story.

More often, what adults are seeing is a child whose nervous system is overloaded.