At Sense Enabled we use gentle movement based therapies to help kids and teens with sensory sensitivities to be their best selves.
All tagged Facial Reflexes
My good friend and mentor Janet Oliver will be coming to the Seattle area to teach several very interesting facial reflex workshops in September 2020. If you are a therapist working with children, such as a speech or occupational therapist, this is a great opportunity to learn more about facial and gravity reflexes.
Oral and facial reflexes. Who has ever even heard of such a thing?! But I am willing to bet you’ve heard or said, “don’t put that in your mouth! These reflexes rule over the mouth, tongue, lips, jaw, cheeks, palate and face. We suck, chew, swallow, gag, clench, grind, purse, smile or cry because of them. Do you grind your teeth? Suffer from migraines? Maybe you or your child gag easily, drool or struggle with speech or eating issues. All these challenges and more can be traced back to the oral / facial reflexes. Good news is they can be improved through movement-based integration activities!
The interplay between the reflexes and the vestibular system of the inner ear inform our sense of gravity, balance and underpin our spatial abilities. If you have ever spun around until dizzy or had a bout of vertigo you can appreciate what it would be like to live with a challenged sense of gravity. If my gravity sense is challenged my ability to do math or follow a sequence will be impacted too. Take a moment to imagine working, playing or trying to function in a constant state of disequilibrium always feeling like you just got off that spinning wheel from the playground!
Reflexes, everyone has them and many come to us automatically. But when they don’t in can have big impacts in how we process the world. This can result in increased anxiety, ADHD symptoms, headaches and other life impacts. Learn more about how integrating infant reflexes at any time in life can improve your quality of life.
