Autism and the HANDLE Approach

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Get a HANDLE on Neurodevelopment

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Primary Reflexes for Emotional Regulation

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Preparing Developmentally for School

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ROOTS of STRESS July 30, 2013

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Autism and the HANDLE Approach Webinar

Click below for the one hour webinar on Autism and the HANDLE Approach. 

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Reflexes for Attention Webinar

Click below for the link to the hour webinar on reflexes and attention.

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Webinar: Encouraging Development Over the Summer

Click the link below to view

 Encouraging Development Over the Summer: a webinar by Janet L. Oliver
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Beta Versions of Fusion Webinars

I Did It (Sort of): Presenting the Beta Versions of Fusion Webinars

Reflexes for Learning Handwriting  

This is the link to the Free webinar on Handwriting and Reflexes.  Click on the link below, when you hear the music stop the palying and move the slide bar to 3:00 (it may take some buffering) to get to the presentation. It should play for the next 160 days of so.

Handwriting and Reflexes

Why Do They Do That?

This is the link to the HANDLE Community Information Meeting. Clink on the link below and stop the player at the top left. Move the slide bar until it says 6:30 and then hit play, otherwise you will hear the sound checks and a telephone call and other really boring things. 

Why Do They Do That?

 Reflexes for Living and Learning: Vision

This one starts with a big laugh, but gets right into it. As we continue these will hopefully improve.

Reflex for Living and Learning: Vision

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The Parietal Lobe Language Wired to Brainstem Body Senses

Our spatial awareness of the spatial world affects every aspect of our development, including our language and social interactions. It may seem like an odd thought that our language and social relationships hinge on our perception of space. What at first may seem like a bizarre idea may become clearer if we look at the language we use when interacting with others. Our English language uses spatial words to discuss our relationship with others. For example:

                Young people need to find themselves.

                We have to face ourselves.

                We  get around what others say.

    We should try and stand in his or her shoes.

                We need to into another’s perspective.

                We may need a go between.

                We stand behind our friends.

The italicized words are at their root about space. Because our development in space is such a fundamental one, it is sometimes difficult to see how much we depend on it. It is only when we experience those with a lack of body sense development that we can understand. 

The direct developmental link of the reflexes to body sense awareness in the parietal lobe and its interaction with the Wernicke's area of speech processing is the quickest way to improve language processing issues. For more information sponsor or attend Fusion Training course: Reaching Out: Body Space, Language and Social Interaction.

Different Theories and Practices behind Primary Reflex Inhibition and Integration

Primary or primitive reflexes are involuntary movements activated by a sensory trigger typically seen in infants or others with atypical neurology. Typically these primary, infant reflexes have a protective and developmental effect for the very young child. As the sensory-motor cortex of the brain matures, typically the primary reflexes are inhibited. Later, as the voluntary motor system develops, reflexive motor patterns may be used for strength and stability, as well as emotional expression. As the result of trauma before, during or after birth, the primary reflexes may come out of integration or may have never become integrated. It is not generally known what role genetics plays in reflex retention.

There are three basic types of reflex integration: isometric, passive/active positions and activity based. The isometric based approach has been developed by Svetlana Masgutova and others. The practice includes activating the particular muscles used in a reflexive response and holding them voluntarily so the motor cortex can gain control and develop an inhibiting ability over them.

The passive/active positions are simple sustaining the position of the reflex posture and moving from the contraction to the extension position. These postures also allow the motor cortex to differentiate these patterns and integrate the patterns.

The activity based programs, included in the work of INPP and many other groups, use games and higher level activities that include some or all of the motor patterns of one or more reflexes.

All the types of reflex integration help the motor cortex to differentiate and inhibit primary reflex patterns. Other techniques may be included to augment the integration work. Massages, with specific sensory or motor goals, are often necessary to gain symmetry and relaxation for some muscle groups. Sensory work is also often needed to regulate and organize the body senses to complete the integration of the sensory-motor systems.

Relationship of Hand and Mouth in Development

Movement in the hand and mouth are connected developmentally.
Below are just a couple of the ways:

Many primitive reflexes help a baby use hands to
feed and later learn to talk. One of these early reflexes is Babkin Palmomental where when the babies palm is touched or stretched and the baby’s mouth opens. You will see this in elementary
classes when children are raising an open hand and some mouths are usually hanging open. Hand to Mouth is another developmental reflex related to the one above. If something is pressed into the palm of a toddler, it is raised to the opened mouth.

In our course you may remember that the motor
areas of the mouth and hand are very close together in the Upper Brain. Some people have trouble speaking if they can’t move their hands. Also movement of the hands activates the speech centers of the brain in the parietal lobes. Research that uncovered this relationship was explored by Shigeru Obayashi and his team in 2001.
If anyone doubts the above have them open their mouths and
hands widely and after 5 seconds tightly fist the hands and tightly purse the mouth for 5 seconds. Repeat 3 or 4 times. Now have them reverse the action. Open the mouth and clench the fist and open the hand and purse the mouth. This second pattern goes against the pattern and is usually harder to accomplish.
Of course later in life, most people can use the upper brain
of the cortex to override the lower automatic systems used in development. One
will still see the hand mouth relationship when showing an emotional reaction,
such as, surprise where both hands and mouth are open and anger where hands and mouths are clenched.
The relationship between the mouth and hand is very important in early development. So in atypical development the motor relationship between hand and mouth can be used to restore disrupted or traumatized development.

Stage of Diet Changes

Denial
Most of us hate to be told what is good for us. So at this stage, I would like to reframe nutritional advice. Finding the nutrition that makes you feel and act your best is a unique and personal journey. Depending on your own bent, see this journey as a science experiment, an ancestry study, a spiritual quest or a practical personal care experience.

Overwhelm
When people start changing the SAD (standard American diet), they are often overwhelmed with what, when, how and why to change the daily diet. Too much change and too many new rules for eating can cause overwhelm and discouragement. It is really best at first to go with just one main principle, realizing that you will not always be able to follow it, but you will feel better if you do. One such principle is: Always choose the less processed of what is offered: Fruit salad, diet bar, candy. The choice is simple; the less processed is the fruit salad. If the principle is "no wheat" and you are offered either an oatmeal cookie, chocolate chip cookie, cake, pick the oatmeal cookie because there is less wheat.

Anger
Everyone, from time to time, after starting to shift the diet has an angry moment: Why can’t I eat like everyone else? Well, the secret is that “everybody else” can’t eat that way either. Their age, genes or systems may be able to hold off the devastation of an unbalanced diet but how would they feel with a more balanced diet? So ditch the anger and get on to….

Acceptance
So you accept that step by step you have changed small and large parts of the diet using principles that make the decisions easier and are finding joy in the simplicity of you and your family’s diet. It isn’t perfect but most of the time you follow the 3 to 4 principles that you have established. Great, but don’t get cocky, kid.

Proselytizing
Once you have established a clear diet path and are feeling the great results, it is very hard to resist becoming a evangelical nutritionist. This impulse can go from “friendly” unasked for advice at work to a full out nutrition nazi. This is a natural impulse that should be guarded against. Just remember that others will respond to even asked for advice with denial, so be joyful in your own self discovery.

Bon Appetit!

Using Reflexes to Heal & Regenerate

It is common for people beginning to look at developmental resources to underestimate their full usefulness. For example, infant reflexes should not be retained into childhood and beyond. They may come out of integration during trauma. Some novices see this as “bad”. However, when infant reflexes are reactivated, nature is offering an opportunity, if we take it. If we return to the movements and postures that developed our original ability, we can heal using the original process that developed the ability in the first place. Then one can return to integration.

For example: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSS) usually brings the Moro Reflex out of integration. Originally for the individual, the Moro Reflex may have been weakly integrated and therefore quickly becomes unintegrated under traumatic stress. By starting a program that allows a person to just relax in the positions of Moro #1 and Moro #2, as well as adding the development resource of sustained deep pressure, an adult can recapture the original moment of development for regulation.

This may not be all that is needed for re-integration, but it can be a healthy start. It is common that one or the other will not in the beginning feel entirely comfortable. This activity gives the Upper and Lower Brains time to adjust and rewire. At first the body-brain system may only want to stay in the positions for as little as 15 seconds. Tune in and gently encourage the system to lengthen the time, over a number of days. Two minutes in the postures seems to be a favored amount of time, although some prefer up to 10 minutes in each position. More time in a posture is not necessarily better. Check in (see earlier posts on checking in) and listen to what you Lower Brain and body are trying to communicate. Attempt to ignore the chattering Upper Brain. Relax your joints and muscles as much a possible in the postures. Let images and thoughts come and go without reaction.

Next week, I will post the pictures for the postures!

Traumas and the Neurodevelopmental System

Last month we looked at birth trauma and how it affects human development. Today we connect birth trauma with other types of traumas. As we previously noted there is a spectrum of trauma:

1. Stress, that can be bad or good for our growth
2. Chronic stress that is decidedly not good for our systems
3. Strauma when chronic or sudden stress triggers mini trauma into our systems
4. Trauma when the physical, mental and/or emotional human functioning is effected

Birth trauma can look like any of the above and any of the above can affect how the sensory-reflex motor systems develop. Some of these differences are minor and others can be major. If the developmental spiral through life is too splintered, the human system is stressed at more and more levels of daily life.
Other traumas can affect our functioning in life:
1. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
2. Traumatic bodily injury
3. Traumatic emotional injury
4. Traumatic mental injury

Each of these traumas is real and healing needs access to the developmental resources that we all have available in our brain-body systems. Some of these resources include:

1. Reflex patterns 2. Gravity and Body senses

3. Breathing 4. Use of mirror neurons through visualization

5. Sleep 6. Nutrition

7. Body and natural rhythms 8. Meridians

It is my belief that most emotional and mental (and many physical) traumas become traumas because the human systems in early development were weak. For example, emotional trauma is often linked with an unintegrated Moro Reflex. Often the Moro Reflex was not entirely or strongly integrated at the time of the trauma which then became emotionally triggered. I have met many people who have had physical trauma due to “accidents” that were all or partially caused by a retained ATNR Reflex.

At times the infant reflexes will come out of integration to restart healing after a trauma. Using the infant reflexes for healing is a natural way to remind the human system of resources we have naturally within.

Birth Trauma and Stress Management

We are seeing more and more adults coming into our office due to traumatic birth issues. Traumatic births include breech, very long, very short, C-Section, forceps or suction deliveries. Problems can happen in any birth and, obviously, it is most important that both mother and child come through alive, even if traumatized. So it is without judgment that we look at this issue.

The infant developmental reflexes appear in utero, transform during birth and continue their work through the first year of life. Trauma at any of these times can affect an individual’s ability to regulate muscles, emotions and even thoughts. Most people who have had a traumatic birth have a vague understanding that it has left its mark on them. Deep stress, anxiety, exhaustion, overdrive, sustained learning issues, sensitivities and a lack of peace are only a few of these remnants.

Our work with adults of traumatic birth usually gives voice to this deeper knowledge by measuring and drawing attention to often seemingly inexplicable issues. A Plan for Learning reflex session starts with a short assessment of reflexes preselected by goals and a history. Throughout a session, the checks, integration techniques and home program activities are woven together to aid resolution. A 75 minute session cost $150 and includes a written chart of reflexes checked and measured, home activity suggestions, a DVD of the session and a CD of the activities suggested. The ideal number of visits varies from between two and eight. Reflex integration sessions booked between now and Sept 1, 2011 will receive a 10% discount with the mention of this announcement. A more peaceful future awaits.

The HANDLE Approach & Reflex Integration

Development of how we intake, process and react to our world depends on the sensory-motor feedback system. Before we are born, our senses trigger motor reflexes, which then help regulate and use the senses. This feedback growth continues after we are born through the seminal (seed) senses and the infant (primitive) motor reflexes. This feedback system develops our processing modalities of the Upper Brain (cortex). As you can see, infant reflexes play a role in development.


The HANDLE Approach looks at the entirety of the sensory-motor development. As a metaphor let’s consider HANDLE a basket. The basket’s handle includes the incredibly important principles that lift and guide the HANDLE approach. The basket’s bowl gathers holistically many pieces of the whole system: the sensory, motor, reflex, nutrition, genetics, environment, and much more. No other approach that I have found comprehensively deals with so many parts of an individual’s system.

Dealing with one facet of the neuro system, such as, nutrition, reflexes, motor, etc, can be helpful at times. That is why many HANDLE practitioners are themselves or may suggest complementary therapies to focus in on a particular area. Although HANDLE works holistically and developmentally to integrate infant reflexes, there may be reasons to deal one or more individually with other techniques. However, these may or may not stay integrated if the underlying body senses are not well enough developed.

Infant reflexes are within us to support development and safety. Sometimes they become atypical due to trauma. Other times they are atypical due to developmental factors that take a more holistic approach to remediate.

New Online Introduction to Autism Course

Just a quick announcement of our new online course, done in coordination with Professional Learning Board. This course is a great overview of what autism is and differences that people on the spectrum have compared with neurotypical. The course gives many opportunities for parents and teachers to try approaches to make learning and interaction easier for students with autism.

Find my new online course: Introduction to Autism at http://k12teacherstaffdevelopment.com/tlb/introduction-to-autism-class/

Needs of the Lower Brain Must be Met for the Upper Brain to be Fulfilled

Our Lower Brain holds our developmental and survival resources. Sometimes these resources are called “primitive” because they are with us from the beginning and are foundational for our growth and survival. However, if the Lower Brain ain’t happy, the rest of the person usually can’t be fully happy either. The Lower Brain can feel unsafe because of issues dealing with gravity, body in space sense, efficient energy use, inconsistent sensory input or conflicting signals.Let’s look at these issues more closely:

Gravity: From the moment of conception our developing body-brain system must do a dance with gravity. To live, cells, organs and tissues must push against gravity. Our first developing sense deals with measuring and reacting to gravity. Most developmental issues have their genesis with issues around gravity regulation of muscles and tissues. Autism, dyslexia, low tone, ADHD and other concerns have challenges with gravity.

Body in Space: All of our senses constellate to let us know where we are in relationship to other people and things in the environment. It is the basis of our sense of boundaries. If this body map isn’t well established, the body-brain system sends out an unconscious alarm. This alarm is often picked up by the Upper Brain as generalized anxiety. Although anxiety is usually associated with emotions, a physical feeling of lacking safety will trigger negative emotions. People on the autism spectrum, those with OCD, ADHD and other neurodevelopmental issues can have issues sensing their body in space.

Efficient energy use: Development is all about learning how to conserve and use limited neural energy wisely. When unnecessary energy is being eaten up by overworking Lower Brain functioning, the result is often a burst of energy and then exhaustion. This pattern is often seen in ADHD, autism, bipolar disorder and other syndromes.

Inconsistent sensory input: The body-brain system does not like to receive conflicting sensory signals. It would be like someone seeing a barking cat. The alarm signals go off. The brain wants agreement among the differing senses. If one sense is consistently giving unreliable information, the body-brain system will block or transform that information to improve agreement. This is a very inefficient use of neural energy and can interfere with day-to-day functioning.

Conflicting signals: The sensory system is not the only system that dislikes conflict. If a person has retained infant reflexes in the Lower Brain and the Upper Brain wants to move in a way counter to the reflex pattern, tension arises. It is as if one horse is pulling one way and the other another. Both horses do not get where they are going and use a great deal of energy trying. Most people with neurodevelopmental or learning disabilities have retained or atypical infant reflexes that interfere with planned motor activities.

Stress…Strauma…Trauma

Lately I have discovered a gap in the English language. My family, friends and colleagues usually laugh at my created terms, but often end up using them because there are no viable alternatives. In this case, English is missing a word to describe the state of almost continuous, high level stress. Trauma is the closest word but is usually reserved for near death experiences, not the damage inflicted by significant, ongoing stress. I have come to use the word, strauma, which is a hybrid of stress and trauma.
Stress is an interesting word that invokes varying responses. It is a word with a great deal of gradation. The grading runs from being dead (no stress) to system shutdown (very high stress). At the one end, low to moderate stress can actually be helpful. Without some stress, our motivation often collapses. At the high end there are two different issues: sudden, intense stress and the soul and body eating, persistent high stress.
A typical human neuro-system is resilient to most stress that is short term. We are built to respond to sudden attack or deprivation. It is the long term stress that many people endure either by choice or necessity that corrodes our body and brain system over time. In modern life, our short term fight or flight responses are not as common as our often self imposed strauma.
To help clients of all ages to become aware of their internal stress to strauma levels, I often suggest a color chart. Depending on the age and ability of the client it can be a 3 or 5 point scale.
Five Point Stress to Strauma Scale:

Blue: Sluggish, low energy, sleepy

Green: Relaxed, non-stressful time and feeling, recreation

Yellow: Attentive, usual school and work rhythm

Orange: Building Strauma alert, too highly stressed for too long (different for everyone), autonomic nervous system signaling impending overwhelm

Red: Fight, flight or freeze activated, lower brain reacts for safety

The three point scale is as above without the blue or red levels. Many people attempt to stay in the orange area too long, thinking this is most productive. However, many studies show that it is a penny wise, pound foolish investment. As with a marathon runner, establishing a pace that can be sustained is most efficient and saves health and wellness.