About this episode

The episode discusses how light therapy may help children with autism and ADHD by addressing underlying biological issues.

Could shining light on a child's head help rewire a struggling brain? That's the question at the center of today's conversation. Erinn Askin, MA, OTR/L, is a pediatric occupational therapist, the creator of NeuroAdaptive Therapy™, and founder of OTEIM (Occupational Therapy Empowering Individual Minds). Erinn joins Dr. Murray Clarke and Bryce Wylde to break down photobiomodulation, the use of specific light wavelengths to energize brain cells at the mitochondrial level, and why she believes it's changing outcomes for kids with autism, ADHD, developmental delay, and sensory processing challenges. This conversation goes beyond behavioural labels into the biology underneath them: mitochondrial dysfunction, neuroinflammation, retained primitive reflexes, and BDNF (often called "fertilizer for the brain"). Erinn explains how her own daughter's severe ADHD led her to pioneer this work, walks through what a QEEG brain map reveals that a standard evaluation can't, and shares real outcomes from OTEIM's intensive therapy model, including a nonverbal child who is now keeping pace in the fifth grade. Follow Erinn Askin: Website: https://www.oteim.com/ Instagram…

People in this episode

Hosts: Dr. Murray Clarke, Bryce Wylde

Guest: Erinn Askin

Topics covered

• light therapy
• autism
• ADHD
• pediatric therapy
• brain health
• neuroinflammation

Keywords

• photobiomodulation
• mitochondrial dysfunction
• primitive reflexes
• BDNF
• sensory processing challenges

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: OTEIM, NeuroAdaptive Therapy

More episodes of The First Seven Years

• Why 1 in 31 Kids Now Have Autism (The Root Cause No One's Fixing) · July 20, 2026 · 6 min
• Does Your Child’s Eczema Starts in the Gut? | Joy McCarty EP24 · July 14, 2026 · 1h 11m
• The Real Reason Your Child's Eczema Keeps Getting Worse After Every Antibiotic · July 3, 2026 · 6 min
• The Exact Supplements and Foods That Can Help Clear Eczema in Babies and Toddlers · June 29, 2026 · 6 min
• Why Cortisone Cream Backfires and What to Use on Your Baby's Skin Instead · June 22, 2026 · 9 min
• Still Have Eczema After Trying Everything? These Are the Tests Your Doctor Isn't Running · June 22, 2026 · 5 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The First Seven Years podcast page.