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.

Emma' Story - IM with toddlers

IM with very young children. Given the right circumstance, IM is very much an option for the very young. Here's one story.

Cognitive Flexibility

Cognitive Flexibility is the ability to shift gears, a foundation human process that plays a role in an individual's ability to succeed. IM dramatically improves cognitive flexibility at all levels of functioning. Here are three video clips about this mental process.

A dad shares about how improved cognitive flexibility seen during IM training positively impacted his son's behavior.
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A teen in an elite private school. This video begins with some higher level IM tasks and then you'll hear the student and parent talk about the behavioral ramifications of improved cognitive flexibility.

Research is now being done on elite managers and what's happening in their brains that allows for top end cognitive flexibility that makes them the world's innovators. 

IM assessment - Overflow movement

When your child comes into IM Focused for an assessment, I am going to predominantly measure their timing. Timing is directly related to the efficiency and accuracy of mental processing. This score tells me a lot about your child. Less measurable but just as significant is the way in which your child moves. I put this video together for a presentation for some Kansas City OT students. Some helpful information for parents that these OT students most likely already know is:


Overflow - This is movement other than the movement desired. An common example is when the preschool student opens and closes their mouth matching the opening and closing of the scissors. This tells something about that child's mental processes.


ATNR - Assymetric Tonic Neck Reflex is a normal reflex that everyone has, but after 18 months or so, this reflex should not be spontaneously firing anymore. If it is, a child can have challenges attending, sitting still copying from the board, etc. A child that predominantly makes backwards circles usually will test positive for an ATNR that is not well integrated.


 I thought parents could also benefit by watching this video before your child comes in for an assessment. You will know some of the movements I am looking for then. Here's the video.

Teacher, not Occupational Therapist

I am an educator, not an occupational therapist.

So why's that important to you?