Welcome to the world of Primitive Reflexes
Here we introduce you to some of the clinical language from the Neuro developmental space. These Primitive Reflex names can feel quite unusual at first. Just click the arrow beside them to see the drop-down symptom list for that particular Primitive Reflex.
Consider what your child struggles with from the symptom list. If your child struggles with the activity about half the time then this is possibly a sign that they may have active/retained Primitive Reflexes.
Learn how to check your family for active Primitive Reflexes with our free mini video series here.
Moro & Startle Reflex
Over or under-reacting to stimuli
Difficulty ignoring background noise
Easily distracted, poor memory and sequencing skills
Shy/timid, withdrawn
Dislike of change or surprise
Poor impulse control
Excessive blinking
Problems maintaining eye contact
Easily distracted
Struggles with social skills
Low immune system
Anxiety/nervousness
Mood swings
Allergies/chronic illness
Stressful birth
Babinski/Plantar Reflex
Toe walking
Issues with proprioception and vestibular system
Trouble with balance
Gravitational insecurity (not confidence in their sense of stability)
Trouble with vestibular, visual and sensory systems
Running awkwardly
Can’t press toes into ground
Difficulty or delay in walking (beyond 14 months)
Problems with sports requiring balance and coordination while running
Difficulty walking in dark (without aid of vision)
Low back pain while walking and/or standing
Recurrent ankle twisting, shin soreness, calf/achilles tendonitis, injury or pain
Tonic Labrynthine Reflex
Poor motor planning and coordination
Poor balance, especially when looking down
Ocular-motor dysfunction, tracking, convergence - double vision
Difficulty with spatial problems when writing
Difficulty with own body spatial awareness, bumps into things and people
Dislike of upper body sports and difficulty catching ball
Weak neck muscles, poor head control
Fear of heights
Motion sick
Toe walking
Speech and auditory challenges
Problems with eye tracking, distance near to far, converging eyes
Poor sequencing skills for reading, writing and math’s
Difficulty understanding sense of time and sequencing events
Symmetrical Tonic Reflex
Difficulty crawling or skips with incomplete crawling pattern
Poor balance, instability, core strength, low muscle tone and coordination struggles
Struggles with sport
Difficulty coordinating upper and lower body together
Difficulty throwing and catching ball
Struggles with swimming, battles to lift head above water while coordinating upper and lower body. Swims better with head under water
Poor seating position, slouches, W sits, wraps legs on chair or sits on heels
Poor standing posture, walks/runs with bent elbows ‘ape-like’
Clumsy, messy eater and writing, copying from board looking up and down
Struggles to dress, brush teeth, tie shoelaces
Struggles following muli-step instructions
Assymetrical Tonic Neck Reflex
Problems with vision
Visual perception difficulties such as mixing up ‘d’ and ‘b’
Problems with hand-eye coordination
Poor cognitive processing
Poor creative writing, expression of thoughts on paper
Math’s, spelling, language, handwriting and reading challenges
Confusion with right and left so mixed dominance of eye, ear, foot and hand
Awkward gait, walk, arm swing
Hyperactivity
Difficulty when playing sport, catching and throwing
Poor balance
Difficulty crossing midline and passing objects from one side of body to the other
Difficulty marching on the spot, right and left
Difficulty with counterbalance, such as skipping
Spinal Galant Reflex
Dislike of sports
Bedwetting and/or poor bladder control beyond age of five
Inability to sit still and constantly fidgets and changes position - ‘Ants in pants’
Slouches in chair
Problems with ‘near’ focus- reading
Poor concentration, racing mind
Dislike of tags on clothing, tucking in of shirt or tight waistbands
Lack of focus and attention to task
Poor short-term memory, necessary to build long-term memory and good working memory
Auditory processing and sensory integration problems
Posture issues, chronic back and neck pain
Hop rotation to one side appearing as a limp
Palmar Reflex
Thumb sucking, stick tongue out when concentrating, especially when tightly holding onto something
Struggles with handwriting, holds pencil very tightly or often breaks pencils, cramps in hand when writing
Sensitive palms
Poor fine motor control and manual dexterity
Messy handwriting and poor pencil grip
Struggles to fasten buttons
Back aches when sitting
Root & Suck Reflex
Dislike of sports
Bedwetting and/or poor bladder control beyond age of five
Inability to sit still and constantly fidgets and changes position - ‘Ants in pants’
Slouches in chair
Problems with ‘near’ focus- reading
Poor concentration, racing mind
Dislike of tags on clothing, tucking in of shirt or tight waistbands
Lack of focus and attention to task
Poor short-term memory, necessary to build long-term memory and good working memory
Auditory processing and sensory integration problems
Posture issues, chronic back and neck pain
Hop rotation to one side appearing as a limp