Neuro Diverge Physio supports individuals of all ages
with advanced
sports and neuro rehab.
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Advanced Neurofunctional
Electro-AcupunctureDynamic suction cupping
Myofascial work
Movement training
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Advanced Therasuit Method
Primitive Reflex Integration
Muscle stimulation (NMES/TASES)
Vibration Plate
Neurofunctional Acupuncture
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Constipation management
Pelvic floor & body exercises
Facilitate activation & awareness of pelvic floor muscles via acupuncture, acupuncture stickers, or soft tissue work
No internal work
Neuro Diverge Physio supports
Autism & ADHD
Hypermobility
Cerebral Palsy
Babies & Toddlers
Dancers & Athletes
See how below
Hey, I’m Nastassia
I bring a unique combination of expertise:
in both sports and neurological rehabilitation
with advanced training in Neurofunctional Acupuncture & Therasuit Method
supported by clinical experience with both paediatric and adult populations
My Approach
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identification & treatment of deeper root causes
for more lasting changes
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effective, fast & lasting changes to soft tissue & the nervous system
for kids & adults
in sports rehab, neuro rehab, & paediatric pelvic floor therapy.
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Neuro rehab
Facilitate the right muscles, the right movement patterns, in the right alignment
to maintain & progress functional ability
Prevent Injury, surgery
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address restrictive posture & tone, facilitate new movement patterns & progress functional ability in those with neurological conditions
improve coordination in those with hypermobility & neurodivergent conditiions
Treat pelvic floor dysfunction, bedwetting, toe-walking
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Microconditioning is a gentle massage technique from the Neurofunctional Acupuncture approach to desensitize nerve environments & improve fascial gliding.
Dynamic suction cupping addresses tissue changes that occur due to poor posture & movement, improves blood flow, moves & clears neuro-inflammation, & encourages tissue gliding.
Pinch-rolling is an effective assessment and treatment technique for tissue changes mentioned above.
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My practice prioritizes understanding & support, over treatment & cure for neurodivergent individuals as normal variations of human experience & nervous systems.
I pursue the immense performance potential for individuals with neurological differences, with neurologically effective interventions.
My Journey
I knew I wanted to change the way kids develop their movement profiles ever since learning about cerebral palsy in the paediatric course of my physiotherapy Masters program. We learned the difference between the primary vs. secondary dysfunction that develops due to non-optimal movement patterns & lack of adequate support and I was set on preventing these secondary issues. This same concept can be applied to hypermobile & neurodivergent kids.
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I graduated in 2017 from Queen's University with my Master's and have since split my time between orthopaedics and neuro-paediatrics since 2018. I started at Athlete's Care for their 2 year mentorship program with Julia Cetnar and Joelle Karam. I followed their footsteps into the McMaster Medical Contemporary Acupuncture course by Dr. Alejandro Elorriaga Claraco. This course is much longer and more expensive than your typical acupuncture or dry needling course. Not only did I get faster, bigger results in the orthopaedic world for sports injuries, pain & postural dysfunctions, but I applied my acupuncture practice into my neuro-paediatric world. Using neurofunctional acupuncture to provide faster, bigger results for children with cerebral palsy has been and still is the most special part of what I do. I went on to complete the McMaster Advanced acupuncture course and moved on to work with another amazing mentor in the orthopaedic neurofunctional acupuncture world, Dan Pringle at Endeavour Rehab.
During my time working in neuro-paediatrics at All About Kids Rehab in Mississauga, I trained in really important methods and modalities like the Therasuit Method & Cage and functional electrical stimulation. I worked with Rim Boulos as we trained further in primitive reflex integration and paediatric pelvic floor therapy. We received mentorship from an amazing team at Neurowerks that treat families from all over with Therasuit Method intensives. The team’s second location, All About Physio, opened in Etobicoke to accommodate neuro rehab for all ages and I completed the Advanced Therasuit Method training. As a senior physiotherapist and clinic director, I enjoyed mentoring my colleagues & physiotherapy students at these clinics.
I noticed that I was seeing hypermobility, autism & ADHD across both clinical settings. These kiddos movement patterns & posture predisposed them to sports injuries & pain at sports clinics, and they came in for toe-walking, poor coordination, poor posture, pain, & pelvic floor dysfunction at the kids clinics. This patient population, similar to kids with Cerebral palsy, also needed primitive reflex integration, benefited from the Therasuit Method & Cage, and had fast improvements with neurofunctional acupuncture!
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Support families
with kids with autism, ADHD or neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy
Our Purpose
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Help hypermobile kids
with pain, sports injuries, poor coordination,
& pelvic floor dysfunction.
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Provide access to neurofunctional acupuncture
to under-treated patient populations,
for faster & more effective changes
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Educate sports practitioners
to screen for retained primitive reflexes, pelvic floor dysfunction, & hypermobility in children.
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Mentor physiotherapists
in Neurofunctional acupuncture to deliver more efficient neurological & structural changes alongside effective exercise therapy.
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Provide resources to medical doctors
to support patients with EDS, ADHD, ASD, CP, & PFD
A physiotherapy assessment is required to develop a personal training program or to participate in a group class.
In-Clinic Physiotherapy
In-Home Physiotherapy
Virtual Physiotherapy
Personal Training & Group Classes
1:1 Neuro rehab with a personal trainer within the Therasuit Cage. For kids & adults with neurological or neurodevelopmental conditions. This personalized Therasuit Method exercise program is developed based on a comprehensive physiotherapy assessment by a physiotherapist with Advanced Thersauit Method Training.
1:1 Reformer Pilates training with a certified Pilates trainer. Modified for kids & adults with neurological conditions. This program is developed based on a comprehensive physiotherapy assessment by a physiotherapist specialized in neurological conditions with Advanced Therasuit Method Training.
1:1 Core, coordination, & performance training with a personal trainer. For kids with coordination issues or pelvic floor dysfunction. This follows an individualized exercise program developed based on a comprehensive physiotherapist assessment, by a physiotherapist specialized in paediatric pelvic floor dysfunction, ADHD/autism, hypermobility, & neurological conditions in kids.
In-person physio-led group exercise class for dancers & athletes.
Learn rehab & injury prevention with the inspiration, structure, & community you need to become consistent.
Includes:
Physio-informed movement cues
Joint Hypermobility Management
Exercises that rewire your nervous system in real-time to improve coordination, isolation, mobility, regulation, & breathing
In-person physio-led group exercise class for children & family members.
Includes: primitive reflex integration, mindfulness & meditation, breathing training, cranial nerve modulation, nervous system regulation, mobility, core, coordination, Animal Flow, sports performance drills, kids pelvic floor, constipation management, & foot control.
Autism & ADHD
How does Neuro Diverge Physio support individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder or ADHD?
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Via Neurofunctional Acupuncture, Press Needles, & Massage
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Via Blomberg Rocking & Reflex Integration, Dynamic Suction Cupping & Soft Tissue Massage
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Via Primitive Reflex Integration, Postural Correction & Movement Retraining
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Hypermobility
How does Neuro Diverge Physio support individuals with connective tissue disorders?
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Via Blomberg Rocking & Reflex Integration, Dynamic Suction Cupping & Soft Tissue Massage
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Via Neurofunctional Acupuncture, Press Needles, & Massage
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Via Primitive Reflex Integration, Postural Correction & Movement Retraining
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Cerebral Palsy
How does Neuro Diverge Physio support individuals diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy & other neurological conditions?
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Via Neurofunctional Acupuncture, Press Needles, & Massage
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Via Blomberg Rocking & Reflex Integration, Dynamic Suction Cupping & Soft Tissue Massage
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Via Primitive Reflex Integration, Postural Correction & Movement Retraining
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Babies & Toddlers
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Education, exercises, soft tissue massage (specifically microconditioning, a term from the McMaster Neurofunctional approach describing gentle massage to desensitize nerves)
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Head control, rolling, sitting, crawling, & walking are common milestones to see delays in, but a delay or missing milestones altogether allows for primitive reflexes to be retained rather than integrated, which interferes with more complex movement patterns required for participation in sports & activities as children.
It’s important to address the cause for the delay which may include more joint hypermobility, lower muscle tone (hypotonia), torticollis, Brachial plexus injury, etc.
Education & exercises on how to modify practice of these milestones & how to prep the prerequisite abilities.
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Lower muscle tone makes it very difficult for babies to move through developmental milestones as expected, due to lacking stability or pressure tolerance at so many joints. Skipping these milestones and rushing to standing or walking with a dependence on locking out joints as a stability strategy will lead to poor balance, coordination, & performance and predispose to injury & pain.
Babies & toddlers with lower muscle tone need more help finding muscle activation, learning the right movement patterns, & building awareness. They benefit from external strategies like positioning, manual therapy, more supportive footwear, bracing, taping, acupuncture stickers or pellet stickers. -
Difficulties with balance & coordination can be a result of a combination of:
-neurological differences in movement processing such as in some autistic or ADHD individuals, leading to dyspraxia or developmental coordination disorder
-retained primitives reflexes as a result of skipping developmental milestones key to integrate these & allow for more complex movement
-hypermobility and/or hypotonia(low muscle tone) which make it difficult for baby to make the right mind-muscle connections during developmental milestones
Treatment may include integrating primitive reflexes, assisting with the right muscle activation, teaching movement patterns through modified exercises/play, footwear recommendations, etc -
Toe-walking outside of neurological conditions that cause spasticity such as cerebral palsy, can be due to:
-retained primitives reflexes such as TLR-Extension and a hyper-reflexive flexor withdrawal, due to missed developmental milestones, poor core control, or reflux
-strategy for power production, force management, joint protection in those with more joint hypermobility and/or lower muscle tone & therefore, more difficulty stabilizing joints in mid-range-compensation for pelvic floor dysfunction, may indicate need to pee when interoception and pelvic floor control is lacking
-self-stimulatory behaviour or “stim” to regulate the nervous system
-sensory differences:bottom of the feet to touch or temperature (hyper-sensitivity, avoiding sensory input)
lower legs & feet (hypo-sensitivity or lacking adequate proprioception, seeking sensory input via muscle contraction)
vestibular system (hypo-sensitivity, seeking vestibular input through bounce
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These happen when:
-developmental milestones like crawling, high-kneeling, half-kneeling are missed
-lack of pelvic floor, core, hip, ankle, foot control or low muscle tone
-joint hypermobility & lack of joint control leading to joints hanging out in one extreme end range as a stability strategy
-out-toeing often happens with knee hyperextension (locking out at the knees) and external rotation at the knee, predisposing to knee injuries as a child/teen
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A delay in potty training readiness can suggest a combination of things:
-constipation that requires your toddler to deep squat somewhere more comfortable, or for longer, potentially due to discomfort/pain
-sensory issues regarding the temperature, light, comfort, environment, textures, cleanliness, smells, etc
-poor interoception meaning inability to feel internal signalling the need to pee or poo
-poor pelvic floor muscle connection, control, strength, coordination
-need for demonstrated instruction, structure, assistance
As a paediatric pelvic floor physiotherapist, I address pelvic floor coordination, educate on strategies, & manage constipation.
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As a paediatric pelvic floor physiotherapist, I help manage constipation via:
-education, strategies, referrals
-soft tissue massage, dynamic suction cupping
-exercises & positioning -
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How can Neuro Diverge Physio support babies & toddlers?
Dance & Sports
How does Neuro Diverge Physio support dancers & athletes?
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Integrating primitive reflexes that are retained (often occurs with trauma or stress)
Physically releasing muscles or joints to allow for optimal breathing that would regulate the nervous system through parasympathetic stimulation
Addressing where the vagus nerve could be experiencing compression, injury, or sensitization, related to neck posture, spinal alignment, neck musculature
Acupuncture in areas of the body that stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, such as neck & thoracic spine junction, thoracic spine & lower back junction, sacrum, scalp & ears, systemic regulatory points in the hands & feet, and abdominals
Teaching Optimal Breathing PatternsTeaching safe & stable postures & movements
Teaching Blomberg Rocking
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Via Primitive Reflex Integration
To improve visual tracking, balance during head movement, cross-body coordination, hand-eye coordination, body isolations
Via Neurofunctional Electro-acupuncture to facilitate neuromotor (mind-muscle) connection, awareness, activation, & controlVia Postural Correction & Movement Retraining
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Facilitate Optimal Breathing Patterns
via exercises, Neurofunctional acupuncture, dynamic suction cupping
to achieve the necessary joint mobility, myofascial tissue extensibility & muscle activation
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Joint injuries can often stop individuals from participating in an activity or sport temporarily or permanently if it causes them to fall behind.
1 in 3 people are hypermobile, meaning their joints have more accessory movement which allows for joints to go into or stay in extreme end range when lacking neuromotor control.
This predisposes to joint dislocations, joint subluxations, ligament sprains such as ACL /MCL / LCL tears, meniscal tears, labral tears, disc herniations, and more extreme non-optimal postures or spinal alignment.This makes managing hypermobility imperative by setting up:
- optimal neuromotor control around joints
- optimal movement patterns
- optimal force management.
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Treat stubborn sub-acute inflammation with dynamic suction cupping, soft tissue work, ktaping
Treat pain with neurofunctional acupuncture
Treat muscle inhibition secondary to inflammation & pain with neurofunctional acupuncture & exercises
Restore joint mobility & myofascial extensibility with joint mobilization & soft tissue work
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Re-injury or persistent pain after injury or a postural dysfunction requires intervention at the nervous system level.
Often at this point we have something called Central Sensitization going on, which means pain signals are heightened at the level of the brain and spinal cord,
In addition to Peripheral Sensitization, which means nerves at the site and around it are also spitting out neuro-inflammation to continue sensitizing themselves.
Microconditinoning (gentle soft tissue work around nerves) & dynamic suction cupping are effective for addressing peripheral sensitization.
Neurofunctional Acupuncture is effective for addressing Peripheral & Central Sensitization when done locally and at the corresponding level of the spine. It works by changing the chemical environment around nerves stimulating pathways in your brain & releasing chemicals into the blood to address pain.
The longer the pain has persisted, the more sessions required to desensitize.