Emily loved school and took part enthusiastically in all activities.  However, in spite of two years of practicing alphabet letters and sounds, doing word work, being read to and enjoying looking at books, she wasn’t yet reading. She sometimes struggled to name letters and make the sounds they represent.  What was going on? 

Her teacher noticed that she had difficulty sitting still at circle time. She sometimes preferred lying on the floor.  On the playground, she seemed uncoordinated, often tripping and even falling.   Her parents laughingly called her ‘our clumsy child’ and were initially unconcerned.  Because of her reading difficulties they agreed to have her assessed by an Integrated Learning Therapy practitioner. 

Many young children are not ready to learn by the age believed to be adequate to start school. This is because they may be neurologically immature.  Children can show when their neurological system is slower to develop in various ways. They may be unable to keep still for periods of times; they can’t follow directions; they struggle with fine motor tasks and are seen to be awkward or clumsy. Sometimes children like this need more time before being ready for formal schooling.

Other children may benefit from remediation through movement. These are children who are already in primary school and are struggling with learning and/or behaviour.

The connection between integrating early reflexes and learning isn’t at all recent news. Piaget is a well-known contributor to child development and way back in 1952 he already described how movement and reflex integration is a foundation for neural development. Higher brain functions, such as learning to read and write, depend on the successful earlier development of lower brain functions.  This can be compared to a house, where the integrity of walls and roof will depend on a strongly laid foundation.  Without the full development of the lower brain levels, the higher brain areas will function inefficiently.

Children who are neurologically immature can still learn but it takes much more effort.

Once identifying those immature areas, the ILT practitioner was able to design a movement programme to give Emily’s brain a second chance to fully develop.  The result was a noticeable improvement in coordination and a rapidly growing ability to recognise and work with written words.  She became able to learn to read – because her brain became learning ready.