ATNR Information

IM impacts the timing in the brain and is an essential part of mental processing, good for everyone. But I believe there are some other exercises that could compliment IM training.Retained infant reflexes impact the brains ability to process information efficiently. This is the ATNR in an infant. Your older child should not be influenced by this reflex any longer. Many children I see have this reflex active when it should not be.

Primitive Reflexes and Neurodevelopmental Spectrum Disorders

Dr. Martin Rukeyser speaks about primitive reflexes and how a failure of proper neural development can impact children with Neurodevelopmental disorders such as Autism, ADD, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Asperger syndrome. 

ATNR Article

An article I just ran across on the ATNR - a retained infant reflex that many of my IM students show signs of not having fully integrated. If these lower centers of the brain (midbrain, pons, brainstem) are controlling movement, then the higher centers of the brain (cortex areas) are busy compensating for these reflexes rather than doing the learning and attending it needs to be doing.

Infant Reflexes

Another great link about retained infant reflexes - something I believe to be significant for many of the students I see. The poorer an individual scores in IM, the more likely I am to see these retained infant reflexes in their movements.  There's a relationship here.

ATNR Activities

ATNR - Asymmetric Tonic Neck Reflex

Recently I have been seeing this retained infant reflex in many of my IM students. I consider Sally Goodard  the leader in the world on retained reflexes and learning. Here is a very informative interview she has recently given  and her website where you can order her books.

ATNR Activities

Many students that I see have atypical movement patterns. One particular atypical pattern is frequently seen:  The child makes his or her circles backwards (claps downward). Modified versions of this might be that the child arches back and forth on the single handed hits, or they flatten the circles.  There is a very strong correlation between these atypical movement patterns and the retained infant reflex, ATNR (Asymmetric Tonic Neck Reflex.) ATNR retention is often associated with ADD.

New Baby? MUST HAVE!

Dr. and Mrs. Philip Teitelbaum have written a book that has is so right on the money.  A few posts back I've mentioned retained infant reflexes and how I believe this is an important piece of the puzzle in helping many of our atypical children with neurodevelopmental issues.

Typical Development In their book, the Teitelbaums lay out exactly what typical neurodevelopment looks like physically in babies. Exactly how do typical children roll over, crawl or walk?

Retained Infant Reflexes

I've been reading for a couple of years now about retained infant reflexes. I want to collect and post some related information on this site.

During my practice I've noticed some very identifiable patterns related to retained infant reflexes. Some children come into IM with a desire to make 'backward' circles, clapping in a downward motion rather than the upward motion of the task. When I test for Assymetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR), just about every child with this tendency will show some level of the ATNR infant reflex. I'll look for some information online about the ATNR soon. If you are the parent of a child I'm working with you'll find these two books on my shelf. Feel free to read them while you wait. They specifically talk about retained reflexes.



Ready Body Learning Mind Book








Here is a little information about the STNR, another reflex. I'll add more as I find more.