I love to use this as an example, because you have seen it if you have seen a normally developing infant of about 3 months old.

When you hold this baby over your head, you can play superman with her. She holds out her arms and legs while you zoom her around the room. When she is on the floor on her tummy, she holds her head up. When my babies were this age, I was so proud of how strong they were, yet I was wrong! They actually were not strong, they were using a reflex (the TLR) to hold their head up. This reflex is necessary in development to develop the muscles in the neck, back, and shoulders so that they later can roll over, crawl, stand, and walk.

At the same time, in the brain, they are developing the neural connections for sequencing, which is necessary for blending and reading, spelling and writing, and all types of math. In other words, LEARNING. If a person does not have good sequencing, they will not be very good in school. Period.

Think now of someone who has very poor posture. Can this person tell a joke or story easily from beginning to end? If not, that is because of the Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex still occurring.

In the coming weeks:

Below are the 6 primitive reflexes and their corresponding symptoms that I consider the foundation for learning. In the next few weeks, I will be writing more on the reflexes:

• History and research
• Auditory processing, Dyslexia and the primitive reflexes
• Visual processing, learning disabilities and the primitive reflexes
• Cognitive skills and the primitive reflexes

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Also, until March 31, you can purchase the Primitive Reflexes: Foundation for Learning webinar (over 7 hours of information and videos) for 20% off! Click here for more information.

Primitive Reflexes and symptoms:

Group #1 - Moro Reflex

       Car sickness or poor balance and coordination

       Poor stamina

       Doesn't maintain eye contact

       Sensitive to light

       Sensitive to sound

       Allergies

       Adverse reaction to drugs

       Hypoglycemia

       Dislike of change

       Anxiety or nervousness

       Mood swings

       Poor math sense

Group #2 - Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex (TLR) 

       Poor posture

       Weak muscles

       Poor balance

       Unable to cross eyes easily, or it hurts when crossing

       Spatial problems - bumps into furniture, stands too close

       Poor sequencing - telling stories, counting, organizing

       Poor sense of time, unable to tell time

Group #3 - Spinal Galant Reflex 

       Fidgeting

       Bedwetting

       Poor concentration or attention

       Poor memory

       Poor organization

       Very sensitive  or under-sensitive to several senses (visual, hearing, touch, smell, taste)

       Auditory processing difficulties

       Difficulty reading

Group #4 - Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR) 

       Unable to cross eyes easily, or hurts when crossing

       Eyes jump over words or parts of words, or lines or repeats lines when reading

       Poor balance

       Right-left confusion

       Mixes up "d"s and "b"s or other letters and numbers

       Difficulty skipping or marching

       Poor handwriting

       Poor expression of ideas on paper

Group #5 -Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (STNR) 

       Poor posture

       Ape-like walk

       Poor eye-hand coordination

       Messy eater

       Unable to cross eyes easily, or hurts when crossing

       Eyes jump over words or parts of words, or lines or repeats lines when reading

       Slow with copying tasks

       Poor attention skills

Group #6 - Palmar Reflex 

       Poor handwriting

       Poor manual dexterity

       Lack of pincer grip

       Speech and articulation issues

       Palm may be hypersensitive to touch

       Makes mouth movements when writing or drawing