What is Rhythmic Movement Training™?
Rhythmic Movement Training™ (RMT) is a system of gentle rhythmic movements and reflex integration activities for developing emotional balance, learning ability, ease of movement, and sensory integration.
RMT was developed by Harald Blomberg, MD, psychiatrist, and Moira Dempsey, kinesiologist and reflex integration expert.
Sonia Story trained directly with Blomberg and Dempsey and taught the RMTi curriculum for 10 years. The following explanation is based on the teachings of Blomberg and Dempsey, along with Sonia Story's experiences and further study of these innate rhythmic movements.
What are innate rhythmic movements and why are they important?
Like primitive and postural reflexes, all healthy babies engage in innate, stereotypical rhythmic movements as a natural part of development. Stimulation from rhythmic movements in the first year of life is fundamental for reflex integration and for maturation of the brain, body, and sensory systems. In her landmark study of healthy infants, Thelen (1979) described innate rhythmic movements and found they were highly correlated with advances in motor development. Other research has found that the innate rhythmic movements of early infancy were associated with the development of language (Iverson, 2010).
Go here for supporting research and rationale on the use of rhythmic movements.
For many reasons, children often do not get enough opportunities to do these rhythmic movements in infancy, leaving gaps in development. Fortunately, we can use the innate rhythmic movements at any time to help make up for lost development and to improve functioning.
Do innate rhythmic movements integrate primitive reflexes and improve functional skills?
Rhythmic movements work in concert with primitive reflexes in infancy and both are crucial to development. Dr. Blomberg explained that doing innate rhythmic movements helps to integrate reflexes and mature the brain. This leads to better physical, social, emotional, and cognitive skills (Blomberg, 2015). This therapist expresses her experience with rhythmic movements which dovetails what Blomberg and many parents and professionals have also found:
The rhythmic movements have been integrated into our practice with most success to increase functional engagement when the kiddos can't seem to relax otherwise. They are also proving to be the gateway for motor development—amazing results where other interventions were not even close to helping. The kiddos love the "work" and the parents are relieved to find bedtime movements that relax everyone!
Trish LaCour, OTD, OTR/L (emphasis added)
Peer-reviewed research shows that children who received even small amounts of innate rhythmic movements (5 minutes a day, 4 days per week), matured primitive reflexes and boosted their reading scores compared to children who did not receive rhythmic movements (Grigg et al., 2023).
Measurable changes with enjoyable, relaxing innate rhythmic movements
In another example, Peggy McCahan, OTA/L reported on her success using only passively applied innate rhythmic movements from the Brain and Sensory Foundations training for children with ASD, ages 8 to 12. McCahan gave four passive rhythmic movements, (one minute each for a total of four minutes, 5 times per week) individually to each of eight children in a self-contained classroom. Students were assessed in terms of their occupational therapy goals prior to beginning the rhythmic movements. After doing the rhythmic movements for approximately one school quarter, McCahan reassessed the children and found that all students made progress on their OT goals even though they had not been receiving any other OT intervention! (McCahan, P., 2023).
As Peggy’s example shows, a big advantage of innate rhythmic movements is that we can do the movements passively for individuals who are not able to actively accomplish them on their own.
Beginning with rhythmic movements makes the process of reflex integration easier
Parents and therapists report that when they begin a movement program with innate rhythmic movements, it helps primitive reflex integration to be easier, faster, and longer-lasting. Most likely this is due to the deeply relaxing nature of the rhythmic movements as well as their maturing effects on the brain and sensory systems. Here is an example of a common experience that shows why beginning with innate rhythmic movements is important for many individuals. This mother was initially trying to do a more rigid primitive reflex program with her 5 year old son who was diagnosed with autism and severe echolalia:
“I took a primitive reflex integration course and attempted to implement what I learned with my son. But it was impossible to get him to remain still and adhere to the rigid structure of the integration patterns…trying to do these movements caused increased stress and anxiety for both of us, so I gave up. A year later I decided to take the online Brain and Sensory Foundations course and I am forever thankful that I did. I began the innate rhythmic rocking patterns…They were simple to perform with my son and required no rigid holding patterns. I quickly noticed relaxation in my boy and I knew that these movements were making a difference. He was more calm and could fall asleep easier.” Sonya Primo, PTA and parent
This boy went on to make enormous positive gains. After a week of passively receiving daily innate rhythmic movements, this severely echolalic boy expressed his first original speech in a conversation he initiated with his mother. Within a year of doing innate rhythmic movements, the boy’s CARS score improved from 36 to 30.5. This means he moved from the upper limits of the moderate category of autism to the lower limits of the mild category of autism.
The power and importance of the innate rhythmic movements is regularly highlighted by our students in their case study reports. There are many inspiring examples in the case study index.
References
Blomberg, H. (2015). The rhythmic movement method: A revolutionary approach to improved health and well-being. Lulu Publishing Services.
Grigg, T. M., Culpan, I., & Turnbull, W. F. (2023). Primitive reflex integration and reading achievement in the classroom. Journal of Neurology and Experimental Neuroscience, 9(1), 18-26.
Iverson, J. M. (2010). Developing language in a developing body: The relationship between motor development and language development. Journal of Child Language, 37(2), 229-261.
McCahan, P., (Guest expert), Sonia Story (Host). (2023, April 25). Peggy McCahan OTA/L talks about powerful innate rhythmic movements to help children meet OT goals. [Video]. You Tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhP4CWczNzc [Accessed March 21, 2024].
Thelen, E. (1979). Rhythmical stereotypies in normal human infants. Animal Behaviour, 27, 699-715.
Sonia Story, MS has been teaching neurodevelopmental movements since 2006.
She is an honors graduate with a Bachelor's degree in biology/psychology and a Master’s degree in Movement Sciences.
Sonia developed the Brain and Sensory Foundations program to provide comprehensive training in neurodevelopmental movements—combining innate rhythmic movements, play, primitive reflexes, and postural reflexes.
She is the author of The Importance of Reflex Integration and the Evidence eBook, giving the rationale and evidence basis for using neurodevelopmental movements for helping with challenges such as ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorders, anxiety, emotional dysregulation, visual skill deficits, poor social skills, gross and fine motor delays and other neurodevelopmental and behavioral disorders.
Her work is featured in numerous podcasts, summits, and conferences, and in the books Almost Autism: Recovering Children from Sensory Processing Disorder; Special Ed Mom Survival Guide; Family Health Revolution; and Same Journey, Different Paths—Stories of Auditory Processing Disorder.
Sonia’s mission is to help children and families experience the profound benefits of neurodevelopmental and integrative movements for more functional and fulfilling lives.