At Sense Enabled we use gentle movement based therapies to help kids and teens with sensory sensitivities to be their best selves.
All tagged Reflexes
Meet the Perez reflex, the “core coordinator”, working with the abdominal muscles, intestinal tract, urinary/bowel systems and comes with a behavioral impact on our emotional and social well-being. Be it our physical or emotional well-being feeling grounded, in control and well balanced is a gift none of us take for granted. When one reflex impacts so many fundamental functions integration can make a huge change in the quality of someone’s life.
Joshua Blatman host of Survivors2Thrivers and I talk about reflexes. In our discussion we connected how reflexes can be impacted by trauma and how their responses can help or hinder you after the fact. While improving reflex integration can’t remove the stresses of every day life (hello Covid!) it can have a positive effect on how you or a loved one react to those stresses.
Back in the Spring of 2020 I had the opportunity to share a couple conversations on reflexes that I had with my good friend and mentor Dr. Janet Oliver of Plan for Learning and Living. In 3 conversations we discuss childhood development, reflex integration and sensory processing disorders. As we continue our quarantine lifestyle this Fall I thought I’d share those chats to help those of you who may be trying to homeschool in some trying conditions.
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!
My holistic methods are grounded in training and philosophy that nothing stands alone. I believe that small changes can make a big difference in the lives of challenged individuals. My work dovetails well with other therapies, like speech or vision, because once the brain understands what you’re asking of it things happen more easily and with less frustration. Using holistic, movement-based activities designed to improve the brain’s pathways and neurological connections to both assess and address these challenging behaviors. A sensory screening session follows the HANDLE protocols.
