The Safe and Sound Protocol is a powerful trauma intervention designed by Dr. Stephen Porges and team. Dr Porges is best known for developing the Polyvagal Theory. The protocol involves 5 hours of computer modified music. The music is pop music and it sounds a bit like listening to an…

This set of graphics came out of personal research that has been a necessary part of my recovery from a restrictive eating disorder. The information presented in this infographic set comes from a wide variety of sources and demonstrates a paradigm shift from the western medical model on weight and eating disorders to a new trauma-informed / disability model.

A set of infographics informed by neurodivergent activists and scholars and the greater neurodivergent community (21 images)

The second part of a two part series. The first is here. While speaking different languages makes relationships difficult, invalidation makes relationships impossible. The med/psych system is losing or failing most neurodivergent people. This is the most common theme I am hearing from patients, parents, teachers, and therapists alike. And it’s not just that we are “falling through the cracks” in…

A measured response to the debate between Porges and Grossman I’ve been studying Polyvagal Theory (PVT) from primary sources and secondary summaries for about 5 years. This framework has allowed me to make sense of my own trauma symptoms and befriend my nervous system instead of working against it. …

A set of infographics by Janae Elisabeth, informed by Dr. Stephen Porges, Deb Dana, Peter Levine, Bessel van der Kolk, Robert Naviaux, Veronique Mead, and disability theorists

An emotional response to Polyvagal Theory researchers My autistic social engagement system is not dysfunctional. My social engagement system hears every nuance in your voice, tracks your body language, and builds a complex editable picture of who you are as a person. My social engagement system easily attunes to animals…

If you’ve been reading my writing for a little while, you might have caught on to the fact that I comprehend autism as something entirely different from the stereotype many people have in their minds when someone says “autism.” …

From the perspective of a trauma-informed positive autistic identity Reader’s Note: Quotes from the DSM-5 appear in regular text. The neurodiversity paradigm perspective appears in italic text written by autistic trauma specialist Janae Elisabeth. The medical model of autism presented in the DSM may be particularly disturbing for autistics to…