Did you know our earliest movement patterns affect our personality throughout life? These infant movement patterns or ‘primary reflexes’ play a critical role in sensory processing. Primary reflexes must be addressed early on so they are properly integrated into our personalities.
What are Primary Reflexes?
Primary reflexes are fetal and then infant movement reflexes that are critical to the survival of the newborn. When a newborn grasps a finger that is placed in her palm, they are exhibiting a primary reflex. Other examples include the Moro Reflex ( fight or flight reaction), STNR ( the crawling reflex ) and the Palmer Reflex.
Why are Primary Reflexes Important to Our Everyday Living?
They help us survive as infants but the infant reflexes that aren’t integrated successfully can lead to delay in development. If primary reflexes continue late in infancy they can help form issues with concentration, balance, intellectual learning, sensory perception, coordination, fine motor skills and more.
What are the Problems Associated with Primary Reflexes?
Primitive reflexes that are retained after infancy can lead to developmental delays found in developmental disorders such as sensory processing disorder, autism, ADHD and learning disabilities.
- Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR)
- Babinski
- Babkin
- Bauer Crawl
- Bonding
- Fear Paralysis
- Flying and Landing
- Foot Grasp
- Foot Tendon Guard
- Hands Pulling
- Hands Supporting
- Landau
- Leg Cross Flexion-Extension
- Moro
- Robinson Hands Grasp
- Spinal Galant
- Spinal Perez
- Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (STNR)
- Thomas Automatic Gait
- Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex
- Trunk Extension
For example the rooting reflex. The rooting reflex assists the infant in the act of breastfeeding. Rooting is triggered by the stroking of a baby’s cheek, which causes her to turn and open the mouth. If an infant retains the rooting primary reflex for longer than four months it may result in her having issues with poor articulation, issues with solid foods and thumb sucking.
If you would like to learn more about primary reflexes and how they relate to developmental disorders such as sensory processing disorder, autism, ADHD and learning disabilities, contact Dr. Leah Light in our Hollywood, Florida medical offices at (954) 987-8887 or click here.
I am not sure where we would be if we had not travelled from Georgia to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to work with Dr. Light and her team. It is a trip we have made 3 times (1 week each) of intensive MNRI therapy for our son. MNRI works! It has been the key to unlocking our son. A year ago our son was in crisis. Now he is thriving. We have watched not only his speech blossom but also his personality, his creative play, and his sense of humor. I can't thank the team enough for teaching me MNRI so that I can help our son.
The best treatment my son could have. The results are impressive. A very dedicated team and interested in helping the whole family. The best support I could have had. I am so grateful to have had them as a team to help my son. The best staff ever!
Brainchild was a huge answer to prayer for us. Our 10 yo son (who was 9 when he started therapy) was struggling academically. Over the years, we had discovered that dietary changes and certain ‘crossing the mid-line’ exercises helped immensely, but we knew that something was still ‘off’; additionally, our son suffered from chronic neck and shoulder pain. He now has no pain and has made huge jumps academically. Sound booth work and MNRI therapy were exactly what our son needed. Thank you!
My son is diagnosed with Fragile X And I took him to Dr Light for MNRI. It was an amazing experience. The staff was extremely helpful. They explain every technique of MNRI to the parents. It was our first experience with MNRI therapy and was fully satisfied with it. Thank you to Dr Light and Brainchild institute members.
Dr Light has the in depth knowledge to treat with MNRI techniques. Her staff is very helpful and well trained. My son who has autism and expressive aphasia saw her this year and made tremendous improvement in the last few months . Dr Light worked with his fears and anxieties and made the therapy work for him. Thank you very much for all the help!
What a breath of fresh air! Dr. Light has a very comprehensive understanding and approach to treatment. My son was born with perinatal asphyxia at full term vaginal birth. We took him to Dr. Light to evaluate his primitive reflexes with MNRI therapy. Dr. Light took her time to give him a comprehensive evaluation and explained in detail each step and the necessary exercises that we can perform at home. We are so blessed to have met her and thankful for her care, attention to detail and expertise.
I have no words to express the gratitude I have for Dr. Light and her amazing team, especially Miss Mandy. After an intensive 6 weeks of MNRI, we saw results right away. My son is more loving and looks right at me when I call his name! Now he makes eye contact with everyone, even strangers. He seems interested in every detail about his surroundings. His balance improved and is more secure and able to do things on his own. He finally started to babble. He is a much happier boy who is blossoming.
My son just had intensive course of MNRI. It was really helpful . We see the results and really happy . Dr. Light and her team did a great job ! They all are extremely competent and pleasant people. I would definitely recommend Dr. Light to anybody who is looking for help with their kids . She knows how to help them.
We our bless that our twin sons can do therapy at the Brainchild Institute . Dr. Light and her team are very dedicated, caring, professional and our willing to go that extra mile for each of her patients to feel special, which makes the difference between all of the other therapies we have assisted . We are delighted with the results of the MNRI Therapy on our Twins. 100% Recommended!
After searching for answers as to why my son was having difficulty reading as well as some behavioral issues, I finally found not only answers to my questions, but more importantly, solutions at Brainchild Institute. Dr. Light and her amazing staff have patiently and kindly walked me and my son through the dark and into the light. He is now reading and feeling successful which has changed his entire self esteem. I cannot say enough positive things about Brainchild Institute. BEST. PLACE. EVER!!
Dr. Light's office in Hollywood / Fort Lauderdale is extremely professional, caring and supportive to the child and the family. We have had the pleasure of working with Dr. Light and her exceptional staff for over a year. We have had and continue to have amazing progress. The programs are very beneficial. Dr. Light and her staff go above and beyond to help each child that they work with. I would definitely recommend Dr. Light and her staff.
We had the opportunity to meet the BrainChild team at a conference in Colombia and we decided to travel immediately to Florida. In the first session of therapies we observed changes immediately, we were completely surprised. Every day that we do home session, my wife and I said…. amazing how he have changed. Our son's improvement has been exponential. In life, God puts on our path “angels", we thank our Lord for Dr. Light, Dania, who help us on translation to spanish, and the entire BrainChild team. God bless you forever. Never stop fighting for our children with special conditions, you made a exceptional good job”. Francisco & Habiba.
Dr Light is truly amazing! She is passionate about helping kids to be able to function in school and I am so grateful to have found her. Both of my children had Auditory and Visual Processing disorders. They began falling behind in school and teachers thought it was ADD with my daughter and ADHD with my son. My son could not read, write, spell or comprehend in 3rd grade, yet he was super smart. My daughter could not follow instruction or what the teachers or coaches were telling her and was too embarrassed to raise her hand. Both children felt like they were stupid and hated going to school. In the end we had to home school as my daughter cried everyday and my son was getting panic attacks at the thought of going to school. He was so embarrassed that he could not do his work in class like everyone else. After treatment with Dr Light, both kids can hear the words clearly and are getting 100% in all spelling tests! Bravo to Dr Light, her fabulous assistant Sara Speed and team!
Our experience with Brainchild started with a lot of research on Dr. Light and her methods. At our first meeting, we were immediately put at ease with the depth of knowledge and attentiveness to our child’s specific needs vs. generalizing it. They initiated a 3 month program this summer led by Ms Sarah. The changes in our son have been stark, and the improvement in speech, focus, inter-personal play and pretend-play gave us tremendous hope for his future. We are EXTREMELY grateful to Dr. Light and Ms. Sarah. The entire team at Brainchild is exceptional!
Dr. Light has been working with my son, on and off, since he was 9. Finding her was one of the greatest things that ever happened to our family. Dr. Light and her gifted staff have been able to help him with his delayed motor skills, processing speed and auditory processing. She has been able to guide us to other services and medical treatments to further help him. His academic performance increased. His ability to attend to challenging tasks increased. His ability to relate in social situations increased. Everything she does is filled with love and grace. Her level of understanding for what we were going through as parents helped us to build a plan that ultimately has had a huge positive impact on, not only our sweet boy, but on our whole family. I highly recommend Dr. Light and the BRAINCHILD INST to people in Fort Lauderdale and throughout South Florida. I do it all the time.
Dr Light's expertise as an MNRI Consultant was invaluable to us. She recommended techniques which dealt with issues we had with our child. Her team of caring, knowledgeable professionals were a pleasure to work with and an amazing support for our entire family. We are so grateful for Brainchild Institute in Hollywood, Florida!
I have a 4 year old son with an auditory processing disorder, he was in speech and OT therapy for a year without much improvement. When we started with Dr Light he spoke a few words, every child is different, but after the first week of therapy we started to see the improvement. His behavior, speech, understanding, everything is so much better, the change in my son is incredible. I can’t recommend Dr Light and her team enough, my baby is another boy. How I wish more families would know about The Brainchild Institute and how they can help their children!
Dr. Light and her team in Hollywood / Fort Lauderdale are experienced, warm, accurate, and very professional. We’ve seen our child thrive significantly since we started treatment 1.5 months ago .We had years of OT with little improvement. We live overseas and we have been able to do long distance follow-up. We are beyond grateful and looking forward to keep working together.