Connection or Coincidence
I vividly recall a child with learning difficulties who came to me early in my practice. I had no idea then that the work I was about to undertake could help numerous struggling readers and learners. I conducted an examination and discovered the presence of primitive reflexes, so I began working with the child to integrate these reflexes. While chiropractic care was also part of the treatment, our primary focus was addressing primitive reflexes.
The child had an asymmetrical tonic neck reflex (ATNR), which typically disappears around six months of age, before crawling begins. Additionally, they had a symmetrical tonic neck reflex (STNR), which should dissipate after eight months. From their history, it became evident that the child had never army crawled. They experienced difficulties with hands and knees crawling but started walking at around nine or ten months, which is earlier than the expected twelve months. Contrary to popular belief, walking early is not a sign of superior development but rather of abnormal reflex development.
As we worked on eliminating the child’s primitive reflexes, something remarkable occurred. Their learning abilities improved dramatically, and within a few months they made a significant leap of an entire grade level. This may sound unbelievable, but such outcomes are quite typical in our office. In this case, the child was in fourth grade and progressed from a third-grade reading level to the end of the fourth-grade level in just three months.
At that time, I had no idea that addressing primitive reflexes could bring such transformative changes. I thought it might have been a mere coincidence, unaware that such profound changes were even possible. However, the patient’s mother shared the story with a friend who also had a child struggling with reading, and I ended up treating that child as well with similar positive results. Subsequently, another child was referred by their teacher, again with comparable outcomes. Even the optometrist of one of these children noticed the change and started referring numerous children with reading issues to me.
The pattern continued, and I can now confidently say that approximately 90% of children with learning difficulties experience significant improvement through the methods discussed in this book. The astonishing aspect is that they witness substantial changes in their reading abilities during our program without prior knowledge. This highlights the importance of motor development in laying the foundation for learning and reading. The fundamental premise of this program revolves around three key points:
Addressing primitive reflexes
Developing balance centers
Enhancing eye-tracking abilities
These three deficits are commonly observed in nearly every child with learning disabilities. From a developmental perspective, these systems form the foundation for normal brain function and efficient learning.
I also typically find these deficits in children diagnosed with dyslexia. It is important to note that while these deficits are often present in such children, they do not necessarily cause dyslexia and are often distinct issues. Nonetheless, these foundational deficits play a role in the child’s learning difficulties. Extensive research supports the existence of these deficits in children with dyslexia.
