Primitive Reflex Integration Case Studies

11-year-old shows great gains in stamina, coordination, and self-regulation

This preteen had a history of low muscle tone and poor motor control, along with anxiety. Once his physical therapist included reflex integration and other neurodevelopmental movements from the Brain and Sensory Foundations course, he made significant progress: His strength and coordination greatly improved, his hands no longer hurt when writing, and he was generally calmer.

Submitted by Crystal T. Miller, PT, DPT

A is an 11-year-old boy in the 6th grade. He had a slightly complicated birth, and his mother noticed some “differences” in development. She states that he cried a lot and appeared to have “panicky and sometimes jerky” movements. He didn’t put out his arms to protect himself when he was falling, or was delayed in doing so. He always appeared a bit low tone and struggled with body control, body awareness and coordination. He was in a major car accident when he was 9 months old and although transported by ambulance to the hospital, parents were told he was “totally fine”. A has always been sensitive to loud noises, fireworks and has always been extremely anxious. He has always preferred to be near his parents and constantly seeks reassurance from teachers and parents.

A has had difficulty with self regulation and executive function (including organization and time management). He often needed to be reminded of what he was doing. He would consistently have large meltdowns and difficulty regaining control. A has always enjoyed participating in sports although often struggled to keep up with his peers. He has suffered 2 major concussions as a result of lack of body control and spatial awareness (and his ability to protect his head).

Over the years, A’s mom has worked on his deficits with many techniques that she has gained from her multiple courses and research. She has seen improvements with work over the years from Brain Gym activities including cross-crawl, hook-ups, other repatterning in combination with other methodologies.

When introducing the techniques from the [Brain and Sensory Foundations] course, I had A watch the video of walking with feet in (pigeon) and out (duck). When he tried it, it was immediately noticed that there was no separation throughout his body. As his feet turned in so did his arms, shoulders and hands. As they turned out, the same happened in his upper body. Assessment revealed an unintegrated Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex. After doing rhythmic movements and Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex integration activities from the [Brain and Sensory Foundations] course he tried the duck/pigeon walk again. There was an immediate positive change noticed.

Soon after this, A came home from school one day and told his mom that he could now do everything in gym class and not get tired—that he felt like he could run forever. He said the same thing happened at recess. Also, after just 2 sessions of working on the hand reflexes [from the Brain and Sensory Foundations course], A reported that his hands don’t get tired anymore during writing!

After a few weeks of working through the reflex integration techniques [from the Brain and Sensory Foundations course], A has been noticeably calmer. He is much less argumentative and adjusts much better when things don’t go as planned. His stamina is noticeably increased. He looks significantly more “grounded” in his gait (prior he often appeared that he was walking on ice). He is listening more and looking for solutions (for the most part….he is still an 11 year old boy!).

A has a lot more to improve upon, however after years of looking for ways to help her son, his mom is incredibly optimistic that he will continue to make significant gains. Also, his before and after pigeon and duck walk videos are incredible!

(Edited, emphasis added)