Primitive Reflex Integration Case Studies

Submitted by Alycia Marsh, Parent and former Nurse Practitioner

Alexa is a 9-year-old girl whose main challenge is with anxiety. She has difficulty managing emotions, which often ends in a tantrum. She becomes easily frustrated and irritated. She also has difficulty getting along with siblings. Other challenges include hand-eye coordination, and handwriting. Her goals are to ultimately identify and integrate any unintegrated primitive reflexes. By doing so, we hope to reduce levels of anxiety, and maintain a more emotionally regulated state. Other goals are to improve handwriting and hand-eye coordination.

The Case Study regarding Alexa outlines the work done over a course of 8 months

The Brain Tune-up was introduced to Alexa initially, in order to activate the nervous system, increase communication between left brain and right brain, and to reduce stress. Once she became comfortable with the Brain Tune-up exercises, the 4 innate rhythmic movements [from the Brain and Sensory Foundations course] were explained and demonstrated. These exercises were suggested for Alexa not only to help integrate primitive reflexes, but also to expand and strengthen neural connections within the brain that will further help Alexa in reaching her goals.

At first Alexa was able to tolerate only passive rhythmic movements. After several weeks, however, she was able to manage doing all movements actively several times a week for 10 minutes each time. Her response to the movements was very positive. She would request that we do the movements before bed because she found them very calming and she reported “they make me sleepy”. On occasion, Alexa would have difficulty doing the movements actively. In such situations, she would do Brain Tune-Ups prior to the movements, then proceed with doing the rhythmic movements with ease.

We then proceeded to assess each of the primitive reflexes, followed by introducing integration activities [from the Brain and Sensory Foundations course] for any unintegrated reflexes. The reflexes that were found to be unintegrated for Alexa include ATNR [Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex], STNR [Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex], Moro [reflex], Hand Reflexes, FPR [Fear Paralysis Reflex], Spinal Galant [reflex]. The 5-Step Balance Process was used for at home practice to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the reflex integration process.

At times Alexa became less interested in doing the stimulation and integration activities. During these times, I would review with her the unwanted symptoms that she experiences, that will be improved or alleviated by doing such activities. For example, Alexa has poor stamina, sleep disturbances, hypersensitivity to sound, and difficulty catching a ball, which could all be improved if she integrated the Moro reflex.

Alexa acknowledged and celebrated many accomplishments after 8 months of reflex stimulation and integration activities [from the Brain and Sensory Foundations course]. Alexa’s handwriting improved significantly, after only two months of doing rhythmic movements. Now she has some of the neatest handwriting in her class, and she is very proud of this. Alexa’s STNR and ATNR are now integrated and she has noticeably more upper body strength. She has an easier time taking notes in the classroom (she does not lose her spot on the page when looking up at the teacher, then back down at her paper). She also celebrates that her hand-eye coordination has improved, and is able to perform better at her favourite sport, ringette.

We continue to work on reflex integration for FPR, Moro and Spinal Galant. We discovered that when we remove dairy and sugar from the diet, the Spinal Galant disappears. At times we need to review why she should avoid these foods in order to avoid the long-term negative effects of a positive Spinal Galant. For example, the reflex is positive on the left side only, which makes integration important if we want to avoid scoliosis.

Working with Alexa has taught me many new ideas about reflex stimulation, and integration. Most notably, I have learned that as a practitioner, I really need to focus on the individual in terms of what exercises and activities they find most enjoyable and comfortable. Fortunately, there are many activities to choose from, which makes it easy to individualize the program. Also, I have learned that adding variety and a level of “fun” throughout the program improves compliance and cooperation. I have also discovered that the state and function of the brain is fluctuant. For example, Alexa may be able to do rhythmic movements actively with ease one day, while other days she has difficulty and may need to do them passively. In those cases, I encourage Brain Tune-ups first, before doing rhythmic movements. I found this really helped her with getting her brain ready to do the movements. Another neat example I noticed was if she was having trouble practicing a new piano song, I would get her to take a break, do Brain Tune-Ups, then go back to the piano. She would be able to play the piano much better after a Brain Tune-Up. Lastly, I have learned that reflex integration takes time, and patience is key.

Alexa’s anxiety has improved significantly since starting rhythmic movements and reflex integration exercises [from the Brain and Sensory Foundations course]. She no longer experiences separation anxiety when her mother leaves the home to take out the garbage, for example. Her stomach aches (anxiety-related), have essentially disappeared. She did not have to leave school one time during her entire grade 4 year due to anxiety, which happened many times in previous years. She still continues to work on managing emotions, but she has not had the major emotional melt downs like she has experienced in the past. So again, much improvement with managing emotions. Alexa continues to become easily frustrated and has difficulty getting along with her siblings. Although we have noticed that her ability to get along with her younger sister has improved. Alexa tends to tire easily from activities that involve physical exertion. However, we did notice if it is an activity she enjoys, such as jumping on the trampoline or playing ringette, her stamina has much improved. Alexa has also shown that she is less hypersensitive to loud noises. She describes feeling a lesser stress response when around loud noises in her environment. To summarize, Alexa has shown improvement in all areas. However, many of her symptoms have not completely disappeared, which is why she continues to practice rhythmic movements and reflex integration exercises.

[Edited, emphasis added]