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Spinal Galant Reflex

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Retained reflexes in adults
ATNR:Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex FPR: Fear Paralysis Reflex Moro reflex Spinal Galant Reflex SSP: Safe and Sound Protocol STNR: Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex

Retained Reflexes in Adults: Could you be compensating for primitive reflexes?

Retained Primitive Reflexes

I often use my own experiences as a private pilot to explain compensation to new clients who want to know about retained reflexes in adults – the concept of working extra hard as a result of retained primitive reflexes due to a not quite “typically”-wired brain:

I was an average child who grew up in the 1970s. I played outdoors in all weathers, possibly a lot more than the children of today – skipping, French elastic, climbing frames, gymnastics, tree-climbing, getting muddy etc.

I was talking in full sentences when I was a year old, could read my name at 15 months and was reading when I was tiny (not sure how old). I remember being shocked that children had to read out loud when I started in Reception, though – I’d been reading in my head for ages before that. I didn’t really crawl – I went straight to walking at about 15 months. I can remember trying and failing to crawl – because I have a ridiculously early memory. I was also EXCESSIVELY shy. I found nursery school just too noisy and scary and remember hiding until I was picked up the ONE time that my mother left me at a big nursery school. I ended up going to a small playgroup at someone’s house, and have very fond memories of it, even now – even though I was only about three years old when I started going there.

Oh… also, nobody ever believes quite how early my memories go back. You won’t either, so I’m not going to tell you. But it’s not normal to remember anything from the first few months of life, and yet I do.

At school, I learnt to write easily. I wasn’t brilliant at maths, but not everyone is, right? My forte was always language and music. Well, I now think I may well be dyscalculaic, and I know that I have slower than average processing speed. I found times tables horrific to learn, and would always be last to finish in maths tests. I also found swimming front crawl particularly difficult, and found sitting comfortably still all day at school a challenge!

Retained reflexes in adults

So, when I started training in primitive reflex integration, seven years ago, I was slightly shocked to discover that I am not “neurotypical”. Walking at 15 months, skipping crawling, being excessively shy, not being able to master that cross-lateral front crawl movement and being as atrocious at maths as me is not “normal” development. But who cares? I have been successful in life! I did really well in my previous career. I can also fly light aircraft, so surely my brain must be functioning reasonably well? And yes, it is…

But… when I went on a course on the effect of retained primitive reflexes on reading and writing a few years back, I discovered to my great surprise that I had not developed a head-righting reflex! This is an adult postural reflex, which should start to emerge at around 3 months of age, and its absence causes vestibular issues, and makes reading – in particular copying from a board – and maintaining attention particularly difficult.

To test, you get a person to sit look at an object a few metres away. You then move their shoulders from side to side, and watch what the head does. If the reflex is present (as it should be), the eyes will remain level with the horizon. If it has not emerged, the head will follow the rest of the body.

The trainer showed us some isometric pressures that can be applied to help develop the head-righting reflex, and, as if by magic, within minutes mine started to emerge! I remember hearing gasps from the other course participants.

Out of interest, I went flying in a two-seater plane a couple of weeks later and did a few steep turns to see whether anything had changed. Well… normally, steep turns had the effect of making me feel disoriented and I would always lose hundreds of feet, no matter how many times I practiced and no matter how much I concentrated. However, with a head-righting reflex in place, my eyes stayed on the horizon and I maintained height for the first time since I started flying in 2003! I no longer felt disoriented either.

I often see private pilots in the early stages of training saying that they feel sick, and receiving advice on motion sickness bands, ginger etc – I often wonder whether they have a head-righting reflex or whether I could help them with it.

I’ve also brought this adult postural reflex online in several children and adults that I’ve worked with – it’s always a thrill. If it doesn’t happen immediately, something else is blocking it, however.

I digress….

The point of this post is to show that almost all of us are walking around compensating for difficulties that we are unaware of. To us, these difficulties are the norm, but they need not be! If a child is struggling with confidence, attention or the three Rs, it is well worth taking a look to see whether their reflex profile might be causing them to compensate.

So what can we do about it?

Primitive Reflexes

As a neuro-developmental therapist, I test for active baby reflexes, and help people to gradually mature these reflexes, using a combination of gentle foetal/newborn baby movements and pressures. Until you have experienced this for yourself, it is very hard to explain how it feels to suddenly have a challenge you have been used to for your entire life suddenly removed.

In my case, while my brain has indeed always allowed me to cope very well in the world and achieve things like learning to speak multiple foreign languages with ease, play the violin and fly light aircraft, things still could have been easier for me if I’d had integrated reflexes earlier.

Integrating primitive reflexes simply means that connections from the brainstem to higher levels of the brain will work more efficiently and not take the long way around all the time.

I now find that I can do things that I used to struggle with far more effortlessly – for example,

  • Getting butterflies before a stressful meeting: gone
  • Ability to listen and concentrate: vastly improved
  • Processing speed: vastly improved
  • Auditory processing: vastly improved
  • Ability to express myself clearly under stress: vastly improved
  • Procrastination: greatly reduced – especially when it comes to writing a blog post or completing a daunting form

If you would like to find out how reflex integration might help you, please do get in touch or book an appointment

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Primitive Reflexes
FPR: Fear Paralysis Reflex Moro reflex Neuroplasticity retained reflexes retained reflexes Spinal Galant Reflex Uncategorized

Co-Regulation and Whole Brain Approach in Primitive Reflex Integration

In the years I’ve been working with neuroplasticity and primitive reflex integration, I’ve lost count of the number of parents who want to know the % their child’s reflexes are retained, as well as EXACTLY which reflexes are retained.

Primitive reflex integration

Primitive reflex integration

It is really important to know that we are not JUST looking at an exact percentage! We’re looking at the full picture. In fact, I do not even NEED to test a child’s (or their parent’s) reflexes in order to start working with them – I can see what I need to do by the time they’ve sat down in the room. The reflex tests are really only for the benefit of watching progress – but we also do that by watching behaviour, emotions and cognition from the time a child heads off with a new set of movements to work with.

Additionally, it’s important to understand that if we do not see a reflex reaction when we test, it doesn’t mean it’s not there: we also look at whether a body is compensating and trying to hide the presence of a reflex (very common in children with a strong fear paralysis reflex). It’s also possible that a reflex has not even emerged yet, which is why I rarely test for a huge range of reflexes initially.

Also, while a programme of movements is important, it is useful for parents to know that by co-regulating with and working WITH your child, you’ll almost certainly see the best results. If you push your child through a programme of movements that are impossible for them to grasp, all you’ll do is stress yourself and your child.

A few years back, I was contacted by someone who was concerned their child wasn’t making progress with another practitioner. After doing some delving, I discovered that this parent was putting their child through around half an hour of movements every single day. Rather than progressing, this child had “regressed” significantly – massive meltdowns and zoning out at school – due to the parent working ON rather than WITH.

Obviously, we all want quick fixes, but neuroplasticity is NEVER a quick fix, and it really isn’t something you can force on someone without attuning to their nervous system.

I love it when parents are fascinated by my work and want to give it a go too. By jumping onto my mat and experiencing passive movements for themselves, they are learning how it feels, which in turn helps them to deliver those movements more effectively for their child – asking for feedback while working with.

There are some children who simply cannot go through a primitive reflex assessment. That is fine! As I mentioned above, I do not need to test reflexes to know what we need to do. Very often, I have my gym ball with me. This is a great piece of equipment because children instinctively know how to use it to integrate their own reflexes. Sometimes they’ll sit on it and bounce, and other times they’ll use it to propell themselves around. This gives me a lot more information than merely getting a child to go through reflex tests: it gives me important information on how to calm their nervous systems.

My 55cm gym ball – the most popular activity in my clinic!

The point of me writing this post is that in order to make the very best progress, the following factors need to be in place:

  • Parents need to invest in the process
  • This is about working WITH your child, not ON them – co-regulation is at the heart of safety
  • Do not fixate on reflexes – this is a whole brain/body approach, and your connection with your child is fundamental for their progress
  • Allow your child to lead you – watch for signs of them trying to integrate their own reflexes.
  • Consistency is key. You cannot stop/start or only contact your therapist when it suits you – you need to make a commitment to do movements 5-7 times a week with your child and visit your therapist every 4-6 weeks on average

To find your nearest neurodevelopmental therapist, you can use this directory

Book your initial appointment here!
ATNR:Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex Spinal Galant Reflex SSP: Safe and Sound Protocol

The Spine, Fear and APD / ADHD

Recently, in an online forum on auditory processing disorder, someone asked an interesting question about whether there is a link between shoulder dystocia and auditory processing disorder and/or ADHD.

There followed some interesting (although not unsurprising comments). The majority said no, because their children had been delivered by C-section. There were many instrumental deliveries due to babies getting stuck, a few extremely rapid births and a lot of babies who needed resusictation or who had been oxygen-deprived at birth. There were also quite a few examples of shoulder and hip dystocia.

Research shows that babies who suffered severe jaundice are at a much higher risk of developing APD and ADHD, as well as those who have had repeated ear infections and prolonged episodes of glue ear.

During labour, mother and baby work together reflexively. The baby doesn’t have to be told what to do, and nor does the mother – otherwise we’d be extinct. If that cooperative dance isn’t working properly, a baby will need help to arrive safely.

The spine in-utero

The neural tube forms within the first 5 weeks of pregnancy. It consists of a primitive brain and spinal cord – our central nervous system. When this little nervous system forms, it reacts to external stimuli – in the early days, by recoiling (fear paralysis reflex) and later by expanding and contracting (moro reflex).

The Spinal Galant reflex starts to emerge at around the 20-28th week, and should mature within the three months of life. This is extremely important as it helps a foetus to start to develop a sense of whole body, with the development of a midline, as well as an upper and lower body and a back and front of body. The spine is also a conductor of sound in utero, and children (and adults) I see in clinic who have auditory processing challenges and ADHD/ADD ALWAYS have spinal reflexes, and often active ATNR, Moro and FPR reflexes too.

Not much later, the Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex starts to develop. Together, the Spinal and ATNR reflexes help a baby to do the wiggle and twist that is the birthing process.

If these reflexes have not emerged strongly enough, birthing becomes a challenge and intervention may be required. Either this, or a birth may be so rapid that a baby doesn’t get a chance to go through the steps to help these reflexes mature, so they remain “stuck” in the system after birth and won’t integrate at the appropriate time. Babies born by C-section do not get a chance to fully develop these reflexes either.

Cue the importance of plenty of floor time and natural development without “props” as a baby grows. The more we try to “support” development with bouncers, walkers and containment methods such as Bumbo seats, the less chance we are giving children to integrate these reflexes themselves.

Signs of a retained Spinal Galant Reflex

To test for the Spinal Galant reflex, I tickle a couple of centimetres on either side of the spine and watch what happens. Sometimes the skin will twitch, sometimes the whole hip will flick involuntarily. I’ve seen extreme reactions in adults as well as children.

A retained spinal galant will cause the following challenges:

  • cannot sit still
  • hyper-sensitive to certain sounds
  • poor auditory processing
  • midline issues
  • short-term memory challenges
  • bed wetting past the age of five
  • poor coordination, for example, challenges swimming breaststroke
  • poor concentration
  • poor stamina
  • dislike of tight clothing around the waist/cannot bear labels in clothing

The Spinal Galant reflex later matures into the lifelong postural Amphibian reflex. A person who hasn’t developed an Amphibian reflex may have an awkward gait, and little integration between upper and lower body, which will cause coordination challenges.

An unintegrated Spinal Galant can potentially lead to lower back problems later in life, and even potentially scoliosis.

How can we get rid of a retained Spinal Galant reflex?

In fact, my preferred course of action, personally, is to see a client in clinic and assess reflexes and postural control, as well as general observation. I like to take people through a series of movements, designed to wake the nervous system up and get neurons firing. I then like to wait and see what happens. On MANY occasions, spinal reflexes haven’t integrated as a result of a person being in a dorsal vagal state. If this is the case, I recommend the Safe and Sound Protocol to start with, rather than reflex integration.

The Safe and Sound Protocol works by

To encourage your toddler/child to integrate a possibly unintegrated Spinal Galant, get them to scoot around the floor on their back, roll on a balance ball, or roll a ball up and down a wall using their back. You can also get them to dance the “twist”, sit on a balance ball, walk around the floor on their bottom or do snow angels.

However, it may be that it’s appropriate to see a professional to look at the full picture and check to see whether any other reflexes are present.

Because the Spinal Galant can be very much intertwined with the Fear Paralysis and Moro reflexes, sometimes a fair amount of work will need to be done so that everything integrates properly. This is why it’s important to realise that you will need to make a commitment to do movements every single day without fail.

It is also important to bear in mind that when we work with children, we do not aim to “fix” them. What we do is to reduce or remove dysfunctions due to “short circuits” in the body and brain that are causing emotional, behavioural and learning challenges.

ATNR:Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex Spinal Galant Reflex SSP: Safe and Sound Protocol

Retained Reflexes and Auditory Processing Disorder

Today, in an online forum on auditory processing disorder, someone asked an interesting question about whether there is a link between shoulder dystocia and auditory processing disorder.

There followed some interesting (although not unsurprising comments). The majority said no, because their children had been delivered by C-section. There were many instrumental deliveries due to babies getting stuck, a few extremely rapid births and a lot of babies who needed resusictation or who had been oxygen-deprived at birth. There were also quite a few examples of shoulder and hip dystocia.

During labour, mother and baby work together reflexively. The baby doesn’t have to be told what to do, and nor does the mother – otherwise we’d be extinct. If that cooperative dance isn’t working properly, a baby will need help to arrive safely.

The spine in-utero

The neural tube forms within the first 5 weeks of pregnancy. It consists of a primitive brain and spinal cord – our central nervous system. When this little nervous system forms, it reacts to external stimuli – in the early days, by recoiling (fear paralysis reflex) and later by expanding and contracting (moro reflex).

The Spinal Galant reflex starts to emerge at around the 20-28th week, and should mature within the three months of life. This is extremely important as it helps a foetus to start to develop a sense of whole body, with the development of a midline, as well as an upper and lower body and a back and front of body. The spine is also a conductor of sound in utero, and children (and adults) I see in clinic who have auditory processing challenges ALWAYS have spinal reflexes, and often active ATNR, Moro and FPR reflexes too.

Not much later, the Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex starts to develop. Together, the Spinal and ATNR reflexes help a baby to do the wiggle and twist that is the birthing process.

If these reflexes have not emerged strongly enough, birthing becomes a challenge and intervention may be required. Either this, or a birth may be so rapid that a baby doesn’t get a chance to go through the steps to help these reflexes mature, so they remain “stuck” in the system after birth and won’t integrate at the appropriate time. Babies born by C-section do not get a chance to fully develop these reflexes either.

Cue the importance of plenty of floor time and natural development without “props” as a baby grows. The more we try to “support” development with bouncers, walkers and containment methods such as Bumbo seats, the less chance we are giving children to integrate these reflexes themselves.

Signs of a retained Spinal Galant Reflex

To test for the Spinal Galant reflex, I tickle a couple of centimetres on either side of the spine and watch what happens. Sometimes the skin will twitch, sometimes the whole hip will flick involuntarily. I’ve seen extreme reactions in adults as well as children.

A retained spinal galant will cause the following challenges:

– cannot sit still

– poor auditory processing

– midline issues

– short-term memory challenges

– bed wetting past the age of five

– poor coordination, for example, challenges swimming breaststroke

– poor concentration

– poor stamina

– dislike of tight clothing around the waist/cannot bear labels in clothing

The Spinal Galant reflex later matures into the lifelong postural Amphibian reflex. A person who hasn’t developed an Amphibian reflex may have an awkward gait, and little integration between upper and lower body, which will cause coordination challenges.

An unintegrated Spinal Galant can potentially lead to lower back problems later in life, and even potentially scoliosis.

How can we get rid of a retained Spinal Galant reflex?

To encourage your toddler/child to integrate a possibly unintegrated Spinal Galant, get them to scoot around the floor on their back, roll on a balance ball, or roll a ball up and down a wall using their back. You can also get them to dance the “twist”, sit on a balance ball, walk around the floor on their bottom or do snow angels.

However, it may be that it’s appropriate to see a professional to look at the full picture and check to see whether any other reflexes are present.

Because the Spinal Galant can be very much intertwined with the Fear Paralysis and Moro reflexes, sometimes a fair amount of work will need to be done so that everything integrates properly. This is why it’s important to realise that you will need to make a commitment to do movements every single day without fail.

It is also important to bear in mind that when we work with children, we do not aim to “fix” them. What we do is to reduce or remove dysfunctions due to “short circuits” in the body and brain that are causing emotional, behavioural and learning challenges.