Submitted by Heather R Cox, MOT/L
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Suffered with severe anxiety; would often fret that something would happen and she wouldn't know what to do | More confident; no longer feels like something bad is going to happen all the time |
| Very quiet voice | Louder, more confident voice |
| Would not make consistent eye contact | Able to keep eye contact |
| Had never slept in her own room; slept on floor of parents' room | Sleeping in her own room |
| Unable to walk into dance class by herself | Can now walk into dance class by herself |
8-year-old girl diagnosed with severe anxiety. Parents reported that the child has never slept in her own room and instead sleeps on the floor of their room. She is afraid to be in the bathroom by herself and mom has to stand either inside the bathroom or right outside the door, with the door open. Child reports she is always afraid something will happen, and she won’t know what to do. Her teacher reports that child asks to go to the bathroom about every hour. Mom stated that the child just worries about everything, and this has been extremely stressful for the whole family.
The child did not make consistent eye contact with me and appeared to be very shy. Her voice was also quiet, and she would often start to say something but then stop. Reflex testing showed she had retained FPR [Fear Paralysis Reflex], Moro [reflex], TLR [Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex], ATNR [Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex], STNR [Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex], Spinal Galant and Babinski.
Mom’s goal was that her daughter would be less afraid and able to be more independent with daily tasks. The child stated that she’d like to be able to walk into dance class by herself like her friends do.
Mom and child were coached through rhythmic movements, reflex movement patterns for FPR, Moro, TLR, ATNR, STNR, Spinal Galant and Babinski [from the Brain and Sensory Foundations course]. They were asked to perform RM as tolerated especially before bedtime. The child was not able to do them on her own so mom was asked to do passive RM to start. The reflex exercises were asked to be done 2-3 times a day, every day. The family was very compliant with completing the reflex patterns. The family was given a log sheet to use.
[Using the following process from the Brain and Sensory Foundations course].
The family was instructed to calm themselves with a drink of water, brain buttons, cross crawls and hook-ups. The child particularly liked the hook-ups and would stand in this position for a minute or longer. She noted that it made her feel “good”.
We then would act out (pretend) walking into the dance studio. She would pick up her bag, get out of the car and then walk through a doorway even pretending to talk to her friends after going through the doorway.
Next, we did specific reflex patterns for the retained core reflexes and play tasks. These would be looked at and changed or altered each time I met with them. As well as rhythmic movement on her back. After about 3 weeks the child was able to do rhythmic movement on her own.
After reflex work each time the child liked to do cross crawls with humming followed by a hook-up. She said these two movements made her feel calmer. She also requested to do deep breathing which we always did at this point because it was very powerful to calm her.
Lastly, we would re-act out her goal of walking into the dance studio by herself like her friends do. After the first time this was done with her, each time we re-acted out her goal she was much more at ease and didn’t need as much encouragement.
After 2 months of reflex pattern home program [from the Brain and Sensory Foundations course].and weekly visits, her parents reported that she is sleeping in her own room and was able to walk into dance studio by herself for the first time! She is not asking to go to the bathroom every hour at school anymore. The child reported that she does not feel like something bad is going to happen all the time. She is now able to make eye contact with me and initiates conversation with me!!!
Her voice is louder and she sounds more confident in what she says. The family did not change anything else during this time. Integrating the reflexes was able to calm her brainstem down so she can more fully engage in her life. It was amazing to me that just doing reflex exercises could have such a tremendous change in a child’s life.
She is now able to do RM on her back and the windscreen on her own. She commented she loves to do them before bed and before she leaves the house. The child’s parents are so excited that their daughter is not as fearful and is interacting more like a child her age. We continue to work!!
[Edited for clarity]