Retained primitive reflexes

[Sweetpea84]

We’re of to Hemispheres in Surrey tomorrow for an assessment on my son. He is nearly 7 and struggles so much we’re under a paediatrician for Adhd not yet diagnosed and he has dyslexia and may have dyspraxia too. Having researched retainers reflexes he ticks a lot of the boxes. Struggles to read and write, can’t hold a pencil properly, finds it difficult to concentrate and is fidgety. He becomes overwhelmed and over excited, still wets the bed etc. His birth was very quick but he got stuck at pushing stage, was late in reaching milestones.

So my question is for those who have experience did it help? Did you see a big improvement? Any advice?

Thanks

Hello, just come on to ask the same question, so afraid I can’t provide any insight as to if it works. We are going through The Key Clinic who also provide therapy for retained reflexes, and they have an auditory programme and biomedical programme. We are prioritising the latter two programmes over their retained reflexes programme for now for two of our kids (as we think they will help them more, plus due to the cost of their reflexes programme). I would love to hear how you get on.

I went through this. Key Clinic seemed to be selling Snake Oil and wanted a lot of money. You can find a lot of the physical exercises for free on youtube. There is some definite science re OT type exercises helping with neuroplasticity/putting down new pathways.
I saw some improvement but can't say if it was due to the exercises or just general nervous system maturity...

We've been pondering the same. Spoke to a practitioner who was quite open about half of families not seeing a noticeable change. It's a lot of £ to us so decided against it for now.

It’s important to have your child assessed by a practitioner as ‘treating’ RPR without guidance may hinder the child or exacerbate issues. The treatment for RPR involves body-brain communication and stimulating neural pathways, which when done incorrectly may result in regressive behaviour.

My child has been seeing Moni Lebon at access potential in Windsor for his RPR for nearly 2 years (as I wrote that I cannot believe how quickly time has passed!). RPR can be as a result of environment and genetics.

My child had a lot of retained reflexes(I suspect genetic/passed down from my DP’s side of the family who are very neurodiverse), which we have managed to inhibit. Their co-ordination has improved, handwriting, muscle tone and eye tracking.

I initially went to see Moni as we suspected they had ADHD and were looking for non medicated therapies

Brushing therapy and exercises do make a difference and only work when carried out consistently, but they are not necessarily a ‘cure’ as my child has now been taking medication for ADHD for around 6 months due to difficulties at school (mainly social due to impulsivity)

It is a long term program and requires commitment. Depending on the exercises prescribed, seeing a cranial osteopath alongside the treatment can help with ‘straightening’ out the neural pathways.

From what I have heard the key clinic program may not be sustainable depending on how your family life is set up. For example I know I cannot do 30mins of exercises with my child every day as they go to after school club Monday - Friday and I work full time and am office based.

If you have the means to meet a practitioner and try the program, from my experience I would recommend it. If you’re sceptical Andrea Thornton’s documentary on Amazon, Attention Please! gives some insight.

We did 18 months of RPR exercises with a practitioner and saw no change at all. We did it diligently and very much wanted it to work.

2 years of it here, morning and evening. No change at all. Absolute bobbins.

We have been doing therapy for almost a year (session once every 6 weeks, with daily homework in between. Seen no noticeable difference and schoolwork declined as we had to reduce basics of reading and writing daily to accommodate exercises. We are considering ending sessions, but it pains me to do it as it absolutely makes sense in terms of why our son struggles and the assessment was very thorough.

We've done it for about two years. Was for DS1 to begin with, whom we suspected to have ADHD and other issues that being mentioned above by op. And I myself (ADHD diagnosed) started after DS was in it for a year. But I only did a year.

Honestly, I can't really be certain if there's anything. For myself, I was in the first trimester of pregnancy. So my hormones were really out of control in the beginning. I started the therapy, my husband found me nearly "personality change". Just a lot calmer and not riding emotional rollercoaster all the time. I stopped shouting to my son because of our of control anger.

However, on the other hand, I was over the moon to having become pregnant again and I also learned to let certain trivial things go so as to focus on my own (the baby's) wellbeing. So that would have contributed quite some calmness.

After DS2 was born, 3 years in. I can't say the effect of the therapy sustained. I do still feel emotional more than other people and still have anxiety issues, but on the other hand, I do also feel my brain is able to find space between a flash of time to think what is the best reaction instead of losing control. But that only works to certain degree. I still feel embarrassed of myself and is on the waitlist for ADHD medication.

Same with DS1. I felt it help a little at the time, especially his balancing. However, I really can't say it's life-changing and beyond the maturity of the brain that could explain. He's diagnosed last year finally and will start medication after all. As a parent, I want to see him reach his full potential and not hindered by the ND. Hence, we will try the medication even though I'm really nervous at the moment...