Students with difficulties in school generally have missed some developmental stages in infancy, causing sensory and cognitive deficiencies. By replicating the stages of development, the neuro-pathways can be opened, allowing for academic treatment to be successful. Per Sally Goddard, in Reflexes, Learning, and Behavior, “most education and many remedial techniques are aimed at reaching higher centers in the brain. A Neuro-Developmental approach identifies the lowest level of dysfunction and aims therapy at that area. Once problems have been remedied, it attempts to build links from lower to higher centers through specific stimulation techniques.”
Movement Therapy starts with the testing and integration of the Primitive Survival Reflexes. These reflexes help the newborn adjust from the mother’s womb to the new world. The primitive reflexes help provide the newborn with learning experiences that form a foundation for more complex muscle movements and later cognitive tasks. The reflexes are integrated sequentially from 3-11 months. Lack of integration of these reflexes in the past 6-12 months postnatally can interfere with cortical and cerebellum processing and affect learning, movement, and attention. The visual motor system is intimately involved in transitioning from primitive reflexes to cortical cerebellum control of movement patterns.
The purpose of these primitive survival reflexes in visual development is to help infants learn where they are in space, to begin to localize objects around them, to facilitate the use of both eyes together, and to assist with focusing and depth perception. Visual problems at a later age can often be attributed to lingering primitive reflexes beyond the 6-12 month period.
We use “Maintaining Brains Everyday” primitive reflex exercises, which you can purchase under the SHOP as an online course.
