Autism & Brain Gym

This is an informative article outlining autism and how movement activities support-this blogger talks about Brain Gym, reflexes work and more.

www.theautismcentre.co.uk/blogger.html

What are Infant Reflexes?

http://www.mamashealth.com/child/inreflex.asp

What Are Reflexes?

Reflexes are natural physical responses a baby has that helps him or her to survive outside of the womb. Many reflexes which are present at birth will generally subside within a few months as the baby grows and matures. While some reflexes may be more prominent in certain babies, reflexes help pediatricians identify if a baby is growing and maturing as he or she should be.

What Kind of Reflexes Are There?

There are many different reflexes. Some of the most common reflexes that babies have are:

• Rooting Reflex: The rooting reflex is most evident when an infant's cheek is stroked. The baby responds by turning his or her head in the direction of the touch and opening their mouth for feeding.
• Gripping Reflex: Babies will grasp anything that is placed in their palm. The strength of this grip is strong, and most babies can support their entire weight in their grip.
• Toe Curling Reflex: When the inner sole of a baby’s foot is stroked, the infant will respond by curling his or her toes. When the outer sole of a baby’s foot is stroked, the infant will respond by spreading out their toes.
• Stepping Reflex: When an infant is held upright with his or her feet placed on a surface, he or she will lift their legs as if they are marching or stepping.
• Sucking Reflex: The sucking reflex is initiated when something touches the roof of an infants mouth. Infants have a strong sucking reflex which helps to ensure they can latch onto a bottle or breast. The sucking reflex is very strong in some infants and they may need to suck on a pacifier for comfort.
• Startle/Moro Reflex: Infants will respond to sudden sounds or movements by throwing their arms and legs out, and throwing their heads back. Most infants will usually cry when startled and proceed to pull their limbs back into their bodies.
• Galant Reflex: The galant reflex is shown when an infants middle or lower back is stroked next to the spinal cord. The baby will respond by curving his or her body toward the side which is being stroked.
• Tonic Neck Reflex: The tonic neck reflex is demonstrated in infants who are placed on their abdomens. Whichever side the child’s head is facing, the limbs on that side will straighten, while the opposite limbs will curl.

What are infant reflexes?

All infants are born programmed with a blueprint of movements. These are basic, primitive and motor reactions that are inborn.

For instance if you were to gently stroke upwards on either side of a babies spine, the baby would start to wriggle (Spinal Galant Reflex). These and many other reflexes govern many functions for:

Eating: sucking, swallowing, secreting saliva
Protection: rolling, headlifting
Posture: for moving a body correctly in space and maintaing balance
and more

These correspond to developments in the brain and nervous system. Ideally as babies grow, earlier reflexes develop and grow into more mature reflexes.

However, children and adults who face stresses and difficulties have missed out on making these reflex movements that are part of their developmental blueprint.

So the child or adult that hates to read is slow in reading, or finds it hard to retain information through reading might have missed out on some stages in development that support eye motor control or in head-lifting or balance reflexes. Missing out on some of these reflexes mean the brain may not be properly "wired" to take in or process information from the eyes.

A child that scares easily in new situations or an adult that finds it difficult to make public speeches might not have fully developed or integrated a defensive reflex such as "Fear Paralysis Reflex" that provides some form of resilience and confidence in dealing with these situations.

The ADD/ADHD child might may still have some reflexes that may not have fully matured, leaving them over or under-sensitive to sights, sounds and movement in the modern environment.

When integrating the reflexes, the child or adult works with the missing movements that are part of their developmental blueprint. Doing so wires up the brain to perform and process various tasks more easily. It also supports the nervous system to handle learning and life situations more optimally.