Your Amazing Body Has a Secret
A guide for curious children and their grown-ups.
Press "Next page" to start reading, or tap any dot below to jump to a page.
What is a Primitive Reflex?
A reflex is something your body does all by itself, without you thinking about it, without you planning it. It just happens.
You have probably noticed one already. If a doctor taps your knee in just the right spot, your leg kicks out. You didn’t decide to do that. Your body just did.
Primitive reflexes are a bit like that, but they start even earlier, before you are born, while your brain is still learning how to be a brain.
They were your body’s very first instructions. A list of jobs it needed to do to keep you safe and help you grow.
What Were They For?
When you were tiny, a newborn, the world was a big, new, noisy place. Your brain was not ready to be in charge of everything yet. So your body used reflexes instead.
If something startled you, your arms would throw wide open and then pull in close, like a hug. That was your body saying: hold on, hold on.
If you turned your head to one side, the arm on that same side would stretch out. Like a little fencing pose. Your body was helping you learn where your hands were.
If someone stroked gently along your back, your hip would swing out to that side, your body practising the movements it would need for crawling and walking.
Each reflex had a job. And your body did every single one without being asked.
Growing Up and Handing Over
Here is something interesting. Primitive reflexes are not meant to stay forever.
As you grow, your brain gets bigger and stronger and cleverer. It starts to take over. It learns to be in charge of your movements, on purpose, in a way you can control.
When that happens, each reflex is supposed to quietly fade away. To hand its job over to your brain and step back.
For most children, this happens gradually in the first few years of life. And it is a really good thing, because when your brain is in charge, you can do so much more.
What if a Reflex Didn’t Quite Finish?
Sometimes, a reflex does not fully integrate. It stays a little bit active, even when it does not need to be any more.
This is more common than you might think. It does not mean anything went wrong. It just means that part of your body is still waiting for a little help to finish the job it started.
You are not naughty. You are not lazy. You are not making things up. Your body is just still working on something, and it needs a bit of support.
What Might You Notice?
If a reflex is still active, it can make certain things feel harder than they seem to be for other people. You might notice:
• A loud noise or bright light feeling like too much, even when you are perfectly safe.
• Writing across a page feeling really tricky, like your hand is not quite doing what you want.
• Sitting still feeling almost impossible, like something inside you just needs to move.
• Feeling wobbly or unsure of where your body is in space.
If any of that sounds familiar, that is okay. That is actually really useful information. It means we know where to start.
How Do We Help?
The brilliant thing about your brain is that it can always keep learning. It never stops being able to grow.
Helping a reflex integrate involves doing some special movements, gentle exercises, a little bit each day. Over time, your brain builds new pathways, like a path through a field that gets clearer the more you walk it.
You might start to find that sitting still feels a little easier. That writing flows a bit more. That loud noises do not feel quite so big.
You are more incredible than you know.
This booklet has been created by Think Thrive Ltd. If you have questions about your child’s programme, please speak with Rebecca.
