Tis the season for packed days, festive lights, family visits and late nights filled with comfort food and revelry. For many, the pressure to create ‘perfect’ moments eclipses cherished memories. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 3 in 5 Americans feel their mental health is negatively impacted by the holidays (2021, NAMI). This time of year can be particularly hard for children to navigate as well.
Our reflexes work to support the strengthening of our neural pathways, and their integration underpins our speech and language abilities, as well as our gross and fine motor skills, executive functioning, focus and memory, as well as our ability to self-regulate and bond with others.
In this more comprehensive review of our early reflexes, we’ll take a look at how immaturities may manifest in potential social, behavioral or even physical challenges as we develop. By understanding the essential function of each reflex, especially as many emerge and build upon the integration of earlier reflexes, we are able to form important connections in our reflex integration work.
The next batter steps up and swings, sending the baseball sailing straight out to center field. Oliver stood at third, watchful and prepared to sprint to home base. His team […]
Imagine a childhood birthday party and the thrill of a pinata game. Oftentimes, this playful challenge involves a blindfold. Each contestant must navigate the space in front of them without sight, as they attempt to advance toward the target and swing with effort. While memory certainly plays a role in each attempt, the body must work to propel itself forward with balance and direction in the absence of visual cues. This internal sense of our body’s position in space is proprioception. Our proprioceptive system plays a vital yet unseen role in sensory processing and motor control.
Reading is not a natural activity; it is something we have to learn…For younger children, reading is a resource-heavy venture that requires concentration and cooperation from both hemispheres of the brain to become successful, all of which takes time to develop and be reinforced.
-Moira Dempsey, Beyond the Sea Squirt
Our Amphibian reflex emerges once several earlier reflexes establish and we gain an understanding of the independence of our upper and lower body. Importantly, this reflex supports the ability for the lower body to move independently from the head, spine and upper extremities.
I heard from a client’s mother over summer break and the conversation warmed my heart. This past school year, we were working with her teenage son on social anxiety, school refusal and separation challenges. When summer began, I asked him if he’d like to continue on or take a break from our work. While I knew he was prepared for his decision to take pause, the break was his choice.
When she reached out, it was with such enthusiasm and pride. Her son was venturing to the pool independently, taking bike rides for ice cream and tackling the high dive with new friends every week. He was acting boldly, on his own, and was proud to share it. When his mom thanked me for the work that led to this point, I reminded her that HE guided ME. I simply nudged him in a few directions.
“When you think about your frontal lobe, you’re telling a part of your brain to think about itself. Your frontal lobe is one of the most important sections of your brain.” – The Cleveland Clinic
STNR draws upon extension and flexion in tandem between the upper and lower body, with distinctive rocking movements. The back-and-forth motion helps an infant stabilize on all fours as they begin to understand all dimensions of the body.
The excitement of a new school year is fully upon us. As our children get to know their teachers, their classmates and their new routines, there is a tremendous opportunity to support their confidence in the classroom. A successful school year extends beyond school supplies and schedules, as learning patterns are established in these first few months.
