Primitive Reflex Integration Case Studies
5-Year-Old with Autism and ADHD Shows Global Improvements
After primitive reflex integration and rhythmic movements, this boy is no longer eloping and his self-regulation, sensory processing, speech, and fine motor skills improved.
In just four months of doing consistent rhythmic movements and reflex integration from the Brain and Sensory Foundations First Level course, this young boy showed marked advances in his ability to filter sensory stimuli and to be more regulated in social situations. He also demonstrated improvements in writing, drawing, communication, and sleep.
Submitted by Laura Neuderfer Peterson, Occupational Therapist
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Reduced eye contact | Increased eye contact, especially during and following RM |
| Limited verbal communication and social skills | Repeating and engaging in scripted repetitive speech patterns daily to communicate wants |
| Difficulty settling to fall asleep | Following rhythmic movement before bedtime, student able to settle in bed without parent support |
| Always overstimulated while in the community observed as flopping, crying, escaping, covering his ears, finding quieter/darker spaces to avoid stimulation, disengaging with others | Participating in family gatherings without seeking to escape and with reduced signs in intensity and duration of dysregulation Unitiating contact with therapists using eye contact, physical contact, and verbal communication (“read set go!) during therapy sessions |
| Struggled with tactile awareness, body awareness, motor planning, motor coordination for coloring, cutting, stabilizing papers with nondominant hand, establishing hand dominant, utilizing adequate pressure when grasping and manipulating tools/toys (excess, too light) |
Writing his name from memory Tracing irregular lines and angles with increased motor control and pencil grasp |
Student is a 5 year old male, assessed in early intervention and diagnosed with mild-moderate fine motor, moderate visual motor deficits, severe speech and language deficits and Autism and ADHD. Student is home schooled and seen 1:1 with parent present at all sessions. Student exhibits fight or flight responses to many sensory stimuli including bright lights (therapy sessions often completed with few/no lights except natural light) and loud noises. Student is unable to go into the community and to many family events and when he does go he often spends a lot of time hiding under tables, flopping in the floor, rocking/rolling on the floor, always wears a hat and tight clothing, and relies heavily on adults for regulation. Emotional regulation is an area which impacts this student every day and impacts his quality of life. He will shut down and miss opportunities to engage in preferred activities due to environmental stimuli.
Intervention Techniques Utilized: Innate Rhythmic movements [from the Brain and Sensory Foundation course] done in therapy 1-2x/week for 1-10 minutes each time with parent present and trained. Parent participating in daily rhythmic movement at home. Easily engaged in rhythmic movement given passive assistance and preferred songs or items of choosing. Student tolerated 1-10 minutes of a combination of rhythmic movements 1, 2b, and 4 predominantly. Due to student’s preference to wear a baseball cap and tight winter coat with hood up for deep pressure, students’ head nod was limited during this movement but increased over time as student showed improvement in many other areas. Parent carried over the above movements on herself, trained her husband, and the family engaged in these movements most days, usually at bedtime.
Student engaged in up to 5-minutes of passive and active reflex integration activities in therapy sessions and at home. Student required passive movement due to inattention, executive functioning, and motor planning deficits negatively impacting his ability to follow verbal and visual modeling directions despite modifications attempted. He was not interested in many of the playful activities…
Student struggles to adapt to change and is dysregulated quickly and exhibits frequent off task moments. When attempting to lay down on the floor student often needs head/neck support due to lack of graded movement…
Heart Connection [from the Brain and Sensory Foundation course] was explained, modeled, and parent was trained. Therapist performed in session and parent reported engaging in Heart Connection during rhythmic movement and reflex integration activities home. This student was very responsive to heart connection and it was evident in his willingness to participate and the impact of the movements on his overall demeanor when I was actively engaged in heart connection. This overflowed to the parent as well who was present at all the sessions. She could see a noticeable difference at home at well.
This client helped me to understand more about how to modify the activities for a non-verbal student and the power of teacher the parent the strategies to implement on themselves and the student at home.
The family saw a significant impact on their home life and community outings related to incorporating the rhythmic movements especially in to their daily routine at bedtime. As shown [in the table] above they saw improvements in many areas. I learned how to better read student’s cues and adjust and how to build up time the time on each movement to support progress towards his goals.
This case study spans four months, from 1/6/25 to 5/5/25.
(Edited, emphasis added)
*Disclaimer: The activities in the Brain and Sensory Foundations curriculum make use of the natural processes of neuroplasticity and development that are innately wired in the design of human beings to promote maturity and function. These activities appear to calm, organize, and mature the neuro-sensory-motor systems just as we see in the healthy development of human infants. Individual results may vary, and we do not claim to offer a diagnosis or cure for any specific condition or disorder. The Brain and Sensory Foundations activities appear to improve overall functioning resulting in measurable improvements for a range of conditions as demonstrated in over 1800 case studies from participants.