Autism Awareness Month Part 2

Autism is a spectrum disorder where different developmental milestones vary widely. One area that is consistent in all folks with autism is weakness in the gravity sense. All people with autism have issues with any or all of the following:

The gravity sense organ, the semi-circular canal and its ability to read and react to gravity

The cranial nerve and tracts that connects the gravity sense information and intake of sound into the brain stem

The cerebellum with the brainstem that modulates muscle tone and presorts sensory input

Why is this important? One of the most important reasons is that weakness with the gravity sense and other body senses can cause the Lower Brain to send alarm signals to the Upper Brain often resulting in anxiety.

Addressing the issues of the body senses can make this functioning better and lessen anxiety.

Tune Into Tone

We are so busy! However, more and more people are trying techiniques, such as yoga and meditation to relieve stress.These are excellent practices and tuning in can improve yoga and mediation or be used on its own.

In the study of sensory-motor-reflex, we consider the tone of our body’s tissues, muscles, liquids and organs.Tone is the ability of living systems to push out in tension and release to relaxation. It is tone that we use to feel and give us a brain map of the inside and outside of our bodies. The words “tone” and “tune” come from the root word. So when we tune in, we are noting our tone.

Try this: Sit in at a table and put your elbows on the the table. Relax. Cup your hands and gently place them over your ears. Close your eyes. Now tune into what you feel inside your head in the inner ear. Don’t try to make something happen, just notice. Take a minute or two and relax, just feeling the inner ear.

How did it feel? Warm and pulsing? Cold and contracted? Something else? The inner ear is the housing of our Gravity Sense organ: the semi-circular canals and of our sound wave translator: the cochlea. Tuning into this area may make you more aware of your sense of gravity and hearing. It may improve the tone of the inner ear and help a tune reach your brain more easily. Over time while practicing this activity, you may feel changes in the tone and sensations in the inner ear. Try it daily for a few weeks and see.

As the months roll on, I am hoping to bring you more tips about tuning in and toning. Tuning in gives the Lower Brain that oversees survival time to communicate with the busy, distracted Upper Brain. This physical inner exploration can be not only fun and relaxing, but the start of a more conscious way to help your body-brain system work more efficiently and to help sustain attention longer in only a minute or two a day!

TLR and Vestibular Functioning

I have found that checking the TLR (Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex) is often a way to measure vestibular functioning (gravity sense). However, vestibular functioning can be affected by other movements that do not have to do with the tilting of the head. Sucking on a crazy straw and blowing a faceted bead can activate the inner ear and the vestibular system. Jaw clenching can also stress the vestibular system. Today a client used a crazy straw and did 8 consecutive suck/swallows. A few seconds later, ears began to blaze, which is a state change sign, and he got rather disregulated. It took 20 minutes for him to re-regulate. This client had a strong head movement vestibular measure. Obviously ocular-vestibular activities alone are not the entire story.

Trunk Extension Reflex

As I was doing research into the Trunk Extension Reflex, I came upon this study that links the ability for volitional Trunk Extension and hip stability.

Dynamic iso-resistive trunk extension simulation: Contributions of the intrinsic and reflexive mechanisms to spinal stability
Journal
Technology and Health Care
Publisher IOS Press ISSN 0928-7329 (Print) 1878-7401 (Online) Issue
Volume 15, Number 6 / 2007 Pages 415-431
Subject Group
Rehabilitation & Assistive Technology

As I am always looking for ways to stabilize the hips to improve vestibular functioning and balance, this information intrigued me. Extending the heels and crown and sustaining for a 7 seconds stretch, appears to be one of the most powerful integration tools in postural reflexes, especially for adults. Those with retained ATNR, Moro, Spinal Galant, Perez or a number of other reflexes find that the Trunk Extension stretch is an important addition to their program.

Visit to the Neurobehavioral Dept. of Skokie Hospital

Just back from my quarterly visit to Chicago. Lee Rodin, a HANDLE screener and near-practitioner and I presented at the hospital about the HANDLE Approach. We had 45 minutes to communicate a presentation that usually takes 1 to 2 hours to a very mixed audience. Some of the neurologists were very reserved, but the therapists were much more lively. No one was impolite. Lee presented the vestibular and proprioceptive systems with great wisdom and clarity. The questions at the end were very bread and butter, BUT....we were invited to speak and no one left. To me that signals a breakthrough in the allopathic world.