RETAINED PRIMITIVE REFLEXES

Donna Rishton
3 hours ago
2 min read

What are they and could they be affecting your child's development?

Does your child struggle to sit still? Find handwriting, balancing, catching a ball or tying shoelaces difficult? Mix up left and right when following instructions? Seem unusually sensitive to noise, touch or light? Lose their place when reading? If you have noticed some of these signs, then potentially retained primitive reflexes might be at play.

Primitive reflexes first develop in utero and are a set of automatic and instinctual movements that allow an infant to survive, develop and interact with their world. Remember when your baby would grasp their fingers around yours or flail their arms if startled by a loud noise? These are just two examples of these essential primitive reflexes.

Normally by around 12 months of age, the brain and nervous system have matured enough to have integrated these reflexes, replacing them with more voluntary and refined movements. Sometimes, unfortunately, this process doesn't happen as smoothly as we'd expect.

There is no singular cause of primitive reflex retention, however common reasons usually include prematurity, difficult or traumatic births, frequent illness or infection, falls or physical traumas, missed developmental milestones eg. not crawling and limited active play.

When primitive reflexes don't fully integrate, they can quietly interfere with how a child moves, learns and behaves. Clumsiness and poor balance, difficulty reading, messy handwriting and fatiguing easily, restlessness in class and emotional ups and downs are just a few examples that we look out for.

The 6 most common retained reflexes (and the ones that we always test for in practice) are:

Moro or Startle reflex: the baby's "fight or flight" reflex. If retained, the child's nervous system stays in "high alert".
ATNR (Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex): this reflex links head movement with arm. If retained, hand and eye coordination across the midline of the body becomes difficult.
STNR (Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex): this reflex assists in crawling and sitting upright. If retained, coordinating near-far vision (ie looking between board/desk) can become difficult.
Spinal Galant Reflex: used by the baby to navigate the birth canal, however when retained can cause the child to wiggle constantly or bed wet.
TLR (Tonic Labyrinth Reflex): assists with balance, posture and muscle tone but when retained can affect coordination and confidence.
Palmar Reflex: this reflex links hand to mouth movements, however when retained can go on to affect fine motor skills like pencil grip and messy handwriting.

The good news is that retained reflexes can be worked on. With the right therapy and exercises, children can learn to integrate these reflexes and build strong foundations for learning and movement.