This review by Jill Tina Taplin was published in Issue 44 of KINDLING, The Journal for Steiner Waldorf Early Childhood Care and Education.
I have several books by Sally Goddard Blythe on my shelves. My favourite has been ‘What Babies and Children really need,’ published in 2008, which is readable, informative and on my recommended list for parents, students and practitioners. This new publication will be of great interest to early childhood practitioners, those who work with older children, and especially those supporting children with SEND.
Sally Goddard Blythe is the director of the Institute of Neuro-Physiological Psychology (INPP) and an expert in explaining the links between physio- logical development, academic learning and wider aspects of behaviour. She has long advocated the importance of free movement for babies and young children as a foundation for later learning of all kinds, and of movement intervention programmes for those who display learning difficulties in school. The INPP has provided both individual movement programmes and whole class sequences of exercises which evidence shows to consistently support skills such as reading ability. Over decades, research has shown that retained primitive reflexes are often a root cause of learning difficulties.
Primitive reflexes develop in utero, or soon after birth, and are instincts which make possible the birthing process and survival at the very beginning of life. It is astonishing to know that we never lose these instincts but that they become overlaid as more sophisticated neural pathways allow control of movement to develop. If these primitive reflexes linger beyond around 12 months, then this can cause problems in developing the self-control which makes learning possible. In this book it is explained in detail how children may be affected by the retention of primitive reflexes and how support is sometimes necessary for the maturation of the postural reflexes which should inhibit them. There is a clear sequence which must be followed which allows the primitive reflexes to fully develop and the postural reflexes then to be gradually strengthened until the primitive reflexes are completely inhibited. While this may happen naturally in a child with plenty of free movement experiences from babyhood onwards, in many children this sequence is found to need support.
A foundation of control of the body is necessary, not only for physical self-control, but also for academic learning. The neuro-developmental approach starts by working with the lowest level where challenges occur, through movement.
Chapter 1 is made up of detailed descriptions of the various primitive reflexes, when they should be present, when they should be inhibited, and the childhood behaviours and life-long repercussions of partial or full retention. There can be psychological, not just physical, consequences as children develop behaviour patterns which mask their difficulties. We are helped to understand the appropriate use of neurophysiological terms, and, as throughout the book, there are clear diagrams.
The following chapter explains how the devel- opment of postural reflexes allows movement control to develop fast, so that most children are walking before the age of 18 months. This amazing achievement, which defies gravity, happens when, usually through unconstrained movement, balance can be securely maintained in a fully flexible way. When the postural reflex development is immature, then there is not only physical instability but also potentially a more general anxiety. This is a telling quote: “The effect of having underdeveloped postural reflexes is the environmental and social equivalent of having an underdeveloped vocabulary.” We can imagine the lifelong consequences for the child.
The third chapter is on brain development. The brain can control the body, but the body can also ‘inform and entrain’ the brain. To achieve thissuccessfully may need both support for the inhibition of retained reflexes and the stimulation of the postural reflexes which will strengthen postural control and coordination. It is explained that primitive reflexes are rooted in the brainstem, the seat of instinctive behaviour, whereas most postural reflexes are found in the midbrain which is where our capacity to be alert and attend is located. There is a need for a balance between the different parts of the brain which control different kinds of movement. Learned skills which become automatic (such as driving a car or playing a musical instrument) are established in the basal ganglia. Finally, the areas of the brain which are engaged in postural control include the cortex, the higher brain, where executive function decision-making takes place. This higher function is only possible when the lower brain centres (brainstem and midbrain) are integrated. Practice and repetition of movement patterns in the very young child establishes this integration. If it does not happen sufficiently, remedial movement sequences can take the place of this later in childhood.
Chapter 4 focuses on the development of the senses. Information about the world is taken in by the senses, processed by the brain and then responded to through other systems in our bodies. There could be disturbances in any of these three areas.
The vestibular system is fundamental to our sensory experiences, and I was interested to read that the vestibular system is fully mature at birth but needs time and experience to learn to integrate with other sensory systems (such as vision) before secure balance is possible. The development of hearing needs both conversation and times of auditory peace and we should remember that children who experience frequent ear infections can spend protracted amounts of time with a degree of hearing loss and distortion.
Hypersensitivity, which we are noticing more often in our settings, can be a real handicap, hence the current recommendation that each setting has ear defenders freely available. In this chapter, the author makes a comment which will chime with our approach to education. Our aim should always benot to ‘fix’ a child’s behaviour but to understand better its source.
The following chapter is about reflex testing, and the recommendation is that this should not be done under the age of seven. At around the ages of 6 1⁄2 – 7 1⁄2, there is a kind of spring cleaning or pruning of the neural pathways within the brain, and remedial plans are much more effective once this has been completed. Nevertheless, using a wide variety of playful movement possibilities in ring times and allowing opportunities for developing balance and agility during indoor and especially outdoor play, is an obvious requirement for all early childhood groups. The author is at pains to emphasise that assessment must be undertaken with great care and what is included in this book is only part of the complete assessment which a INPP trained assessor would provide. The aim of the book is to betterunderstand children’s challenges, not to provide simple solutions to challenges which are often complex. Professionally administered tests may indicate a cluster of reflex retentions and immaturities which underlie a range of difficulties for the child.
The chapter entitled, ‘What can be done’ is not a list of recipes for suspected challenges. The emphasis, as it has been in the other books by this author, is on providing enough time for free movement for young children, especially floor time for babies. Young children learn through and with their bodies and learn from their mistakes: ‘experience is food for brain development.’ For teachers, the suggestion is to look carefully at healthy sensory development in the classroom, including using singing and chanting. There are simple suggestions for class- room hygiene and management which will support children who seem to have challenges in their readi- ness to learn in a school environment.
This chapter includes a very helpful section on the use of electronic media with some clear explana- tions of what it does and does not offer. There are good contemporary references and open questions for parents and teachers to consider. I can imagine using much of this information in discussions with parents of young children. It is not prescriptive but builds a picture of the disadvantages of screen use which is effective.
The book concludes with a detailed history of how work on reflexes and their place in child development has unfolded. There is an interesting account of how the current INPP approach has evolved over the past decades. Finally, the author describes how difficulties identified in children are increasing both in complexity and number. I can imagine Covid restrictions will have only exacerbated this situation, making this publication very timely.
There are appendices including a useful glossary of terms, lists of references, notes on each chapter and a detailed index, all making this book easy to use for reference. Some additional papers and diagrams are included in the appendices, and the short article entitled, ‘Why do children roll and tumble,’ would be one to circulate for parents. There is a very interesting article on selective mutism too.
This book is valuable reading to those working with young children and school children too.
Jill Tina Taplin.
Reflexes, Movement, Learning & Behaviour: Analysing and unblocking neuro-motor immaturity
Sally Goddard Blythe
How neuro-motor immaturity influences physical, behavioural, learning and emotional blockages in children and adults, and what can be done to help.
