Diagnosis And Treatment Of Developmental Delay
........................................................................

Part of the diagnosis is to test for the presence of primitive reflexes. These reflexes are designed to program the brain in areas such as balance, coordination, correct eye movement and the appropriate production of stress chemicals such as adrenaline. If any of these early responses are still present, they will definitely be affecting the person's performance in these areas.



Reflexes
.............

What Is A Reflex?

A reflex is an automatic, unconscious reaction to stimulus.

At birth all babies are tested to ensure the presence of reflexes, in particular, primitive reflexes i.e. Suck, Moro, Palmar, Plantar. These are extremely important to a baby's birth, survival and learning, without appropriate rooting and sucking reflexes for example, a baby will not have that ability to suckle properly. Normally primitive reflexes should inhibit within the first 12 months after birth.

Every primitive reflex triggers, or is triggered by a physical reaction, for example if you blow in a baby's face it will blink, a sudden movement or loud noise will startle a baby making it cry. This reaction is called Moro Reflex, which triggers with very low levels of stimulus and produces adrenaline. The Moro reflex, matures into the Strauss, or adult Fight/Flight Response.

If we compare the development of a child to a line of standing, dominoes and call each domino a reflex, the first of which is toppled over by the act of conception, what should abeam is a chain reaction, starting with early foetal responses and moving all the way through to full adult reflexes by the age of 3 years. If for any reason the early dominoes (reflexes) remain standing, they will affect the natural inhibition and maturation of later reflexes. 

The maturation or inhibition of these special reflexes allow the baby brain to process and program information from its new environment. This enables 'self-education' of the central nervous system in areas of function such as balance, cor-ordination, mobility skills, eye/hand skills, correct eye movement and the production of stress chemicals such as adrenaline. Without primitive reflexes, we could not go through the developmental process of rolling, crawling, standing and walking.  

Although many of these responses are tested for at birth, they are not tested 12 months later to ensure that the primitive reflexes have developed appropriately.

Retained primitive reflexes lead to a variety of complications that emerge later in life, many of which are diagnosed incorrectly as being psychological, emotional or behavioral, whereas in fact, they may be physiological.