From virtually the moment of conception, human genes dictate that we must and will move.  The earliest movements we make are not deliberate but are automatic reflexes.  These ‘primitive’ reflex movements are truly magic because they help develop the brain.

Each time you feel the baby moving inside your uterus, you can celebrate, knowing that those movements are laying down the patterns of neural pathways that serve to connect the different brain areas.  These are the pathways that are vital for learning, behaving appropriately, forming healthy relationships with the people in our lives and enjoying emotional well-being.

They also help develop ability to control the body, muscle tone, good integration of information coming in from the different senses and survive the early months of life.

At birth, our brains are far from completely developed so we depend on primitive reflexes to help us enter the world and then keep us alive.  For example, the Moro reflex is a reaction to being startled. This reflex produces cortisol and adrenaline to help activate the birth process. Then the Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR) comes into play, helping the foetus twist down the birth canal during a normal birth.  After we are delivered, the Moro reflex triggers our first breath and permits us to straighten out after months spent in the foetal position in the uterus.

After birth, the sucking reflex allows the mouth to take in nourishment and swallow, while many others are present to help in other ways.  Slowly, these early reflexes are integrated as new ones take their place.  Each reflex appears in a crucial time, does its important job and is then replaced in order for higher development to happen. Ultimately, primitive reflexes are replaced by so-called postural reflexes which allow us to crawl and then finally to walk.

 Problems can be experienced later on if these primitive reflexes are not absorbed or integrated.  Retained reflexes can cause emotional problems, timidity and fearfulness, attention problems and learning difficulties, depression, sensory disorders, lack of confidence, tantrums, bedwetting, fidgeting, thumb sucking and many of the challenges often seen in children.  Unfortunately, children with learning, behavioural and emotional issues often fail to be helped. This is because the symptoms they show are treated, rather than being helped to overcome the underlying causes of their problems.  

There are many reasons for reflexes to remain present and not be integrated.  Included in these are the diet and general health and emotional well-being of the mother during pregnancy. Traumatic birth events including Caesarean birth and the use of instruments can interfere with amongst others, the Moro reflex. This has the domino effect of interfering with the integration of all the reflexes that should follow, setting up glitches in brain development that can persist for years.

When several unintegrated reflexes persist, normal tasks that are taken for granted by most of us become difficult if not impossible.  When children experience sensory integration disorders, vision and listening challenges, extreme shyness and lack of confidence, ADHD, learning challenges and developmental delays, it is time to look for help.  Reading and writing difficulties, language and speech delays, disorganisation, fidgeting and lack of focus all may be signposts to the need for reflex integration.

 The good news is that it is not difficult to integrate reflexes by helping the child with a movement programme.  Certain movements replicate the earlier movements that somehow failed to achieve reflex development or integration, so by showing a child different movements, we give the brain a second chance to reorganise those all-important networks needed for efficient functioning.

 Movement is magic!  Even more magical are the improvements seen in children when they are given the chance to overcome early setbacks in their development.

If you suspect that a child may have unwarranted challenges in coping with home and school demands, you should seriously consider a neurodevelopmental assessment.

Image supplied by Freepik.