Three takeaways about the role of primitive reflexes in neurological development are: – Understanding neurological development and the order of development can help clue us in to where things may have gone off course. – Primitive reflexes are a window into how well the nervous system is integrated and organized. – Ultimately, as chiropractors, addressing subluxation first helps lay the foundation to how the nervous is balanced and when a subluxation remains, it is harder for the brain to integrate sensory information, properly integrate reflexes, and ultimately can impact how the brain is able to learn and achieve milestones in higher centers of the brain.

This course was a great review on not just what the reflexes are and how to test for them, but on the importance in understanding foundations of neurodevelopment to better assess our young patients in practice.

This course helped deepen my ability to better communicate levels of development with parents/patients and tie together neurological organization and how altered input can alter development.

I would recommend this course to other chiropractors because it provides a strong foundational understanding of the sequence of neurological development and helps deepen insight into how primitive reflexes influence that process. It goes beyond simply identifying a reflex and learning how to test for it – there is meaningful context and clinical application that helps connect reflex patterns to overall development and patient care.

Primitive reflexes are a great tool to assess cognitive function.

This course Helped me identify primitive reflexes.

I have molded my examination process around primitive reflexes for kids.

This is a great course for getting more in-depth pediatric knowledge of neurology.

The program was very helpful at learning how to assess and grade the retained reflexes. It gives a clear path as to how we need to observe our children for the developmental milestones and discuss the challenges that parents may be experiencing with their development not only physically but socially and cognitively as well.

It has helped me view the children in my office with an additional lens. Since COVID we have been seeing parents seeking more information and other avenues for some of the challenges their children are experiencing.

A young patient who during COVID was treated for leukemia ( isolated more than typical due to society changes and immunosuppression) presented for adjustments after returning to hockey. During the conversation with the dad, they had been taking him to vision therapy for treatment with “ADHD and dyslexic” type behaviour. I asked if they had heard of retained reflexes and explained what they were. I asked if they knew if they had investigated the retained reflexes in vision therapy. I found he had retained Moro, Galant, palmar, plantar, ATNR and STNR. We have started treating him and working on some integrative exercises.

If you want a pediatric practice, you will come across the retained primitive reflexes. It is key that we can recognize and test for these to benefit the child most in our care.

Although the adjustment is the most critical piece of integration and the brain body connection, the program could benefit from some examples of the exercises or activities that would be most beneficial. We live in a community where people will travel 3 hours for an appointment and can’t do that more than a few times a month weekly if we are lucky (weather dependent). Parents are looking for some tools to have at home that can help to maximize the impact of Chiropractic care and continue the momentum of healing when at home.