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.

Here is our first imbedded youtube video. Our two Gomo videos and the Primary Reflex Dance have been chopped up and uploaded. I will be picking ones to narrate and expound upon. Hippy Sitting is one of the activities we do as a homework for Spinal Galant Reflex integration issues. Please comment if you come to watch here!

Tactility: the Ultimate Body Sense

I was reading the new Scientific American about why human developed as hairless and how being hairless led to bigger brains. Although I have not finish the long article, from the neurodevelopmental point of view I can see why this would be true. One of human's unique traits is being able to hold back from acting on the obvious when an authority or teacher is directing otherwise. What does this have to do with skin? Our skin works with our eyes and other senses to form mental rehearsal by the use of what are called mirror neurons. Mirror neurons help us to take on the situation of another and experience empathy. As an example, it is our hairless skin that allows us to feel that someone is "creepy" That feeling would be like something creeping over our skin. Think of how different you feel in early summer wearing shorts and sleeveless shirt after wearing sweaters and heavy pants all winter. You feel a bit self conscious. Self conscoiusness is an awareness of how others see you. Bear skin increases this. Our skin allows us to "feel" more and be more conscious. Imagine being covered with hair and how muffled your skin would feel. And that is the "naked" truth.

HANDLE Principles 2: There is no silver bullet

As the year mark of the passing of Judith Bluestone comes around, I will continue the principles that she articulated and developed as a part of the HANDLE Approach.

There is no silver bullet. There is no "cure" for neurodevelopmental issues. Only through gentle challenges of weak systems can we harness the developmental power that each of us has within our body-brain system. This can move us forward in our functioning.

There are many snake oil salesmen offering the "answer" to autism, ADHD, dyslexia and so on, but although many approaches can help individual systems, no one approach can "fix" these issues. The truth is that we should reframe our search into helping people with their own personal goals that are evading them. A goal might be to talk, to walk or to play a musical instrument.

Nutrition, cranial sacral therapy, speech, OT, PT and many more approaches can give a piece. The HANDLE approach works on the sensory-motor and body senses better than any therapy that I have seen. When I added the reflex motor resources to the mix, I find a powerful tool to help most people make their goals. And this is powerful indeed. Thanks, Judith.

Marietta, GA-Postural Reflex Course Notes

Even with icy weather, a very enthusiastic group it was last weekend! We were very lucky to have in attendence, Max, 18, who has Asperger's Syndrome. He was our very excellent model for most of the activity explanations. During the Parachute Reflex explanation (see below), Max's mom noted that Max had to cognitively learn social space and often overestimates (is too far away) as an overcompensation for coming too close as a young child.
On the second day, many people were feeling changes in their reactions to stress. Many felt peace. Sharron says:
Personally I sense a greater freedom to laugh and relax. I gave a 20 min presentation Monday night on brain integration therapy to a home school group and was not as conscious of apprehension as in other days and enjoyed myself.

The Abdominal Sleep Reflex continued the relaxation and the Trunk Extension Reflex brought everyone back together. We are excited to be offering the HANDLE Intro course on this unique sensory-motor approach. March 19, 20, and 21 is the Big 8: Primary Reflexes and Development on March 26, 27 and 28th.

A special thanks to Rhea Brashear and the gang at Morning Star Montessori for sponsoring these courses.

Viruses have Been Changing Our DNA

This article on viruses is only reiterating what many in the sensory-motor-reflex field have been saying for years. http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-01/8-percent-human-dna-comes-virus-causes-schizophrenia. Many of my aquaintances know that my mother had mental illness and it was labeled as schizophrenia, although other labels were used as well. In one of her letters to her dad, she outlined her hypothesis, truly radical at the time, that her mental issues were from a virus.

Reflexes and Development of Social Relationships

It is widely understood that primary and postural reflexes are a built-in protection to us. They helps us move away from stimulus that may be harmful and protect us from falling. But fewer people consider the developmental benefits that reflexes offer.

Very clearly our sensory systems are functionally refined by our reflexes. Vision, audition, proprioception, and even tactility are drivers of reflexive reactions, as well as being developed through the reflexive movements.

Fewer experts yet see language and social development as an outcome of typical reflex development. Since language and much of social relationship are rooted in spatial concepts, our development of spatial understanding is key to mastering them. When we say, "We get along well.", we do not consciously remember that being "a long" another is a relationship of being spatially adjacent to another. How does that spatial alignment develop?

Some animals imprint on their mother and this establishes their "position" and "relationship" with her. As humans we use much more complex bonding in relationship development. However, some of our humble reflexes work to develop being in sync with those around us. As an example, on of our postural reflexes, the Parachute Reflex, is obviously for protecting us in case of a fall. Our arms reach out reflexively

when we trip. This safey mechanism is also a measuring stick of "closeness" in other social ways. When we "bring someone into our sphere" we are allowing one to come into our proscribed safety zone, and not "keeping one at arm's length". The handshake is the original safety device: dominant hand out (no weapon) and at arm's length.

Different cultures use the arm measuring stick in differing ways, but in the U.S. the preferable social distance is still at arm's length. This is just one of the many ways that original reflexive responses of our brainstem advise socially learned behavior and emotional responses.

8 Postural Reflexes Plus One in GA

I will be giving the 8 Plus 1 Course on this Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Marietta, GA. How is this course different from the Big 8 Primary Reflexes? Well, postural reflexes are lifelong reflexes that we have for equilibrium, righting and safety in movement. An example is the Parachute Reflex. Hopefully, when you trip and fall, your arms go forward to protect you. You do not think, "I am going to put my arms out so that I don't hit my head." This is no time for cognitive decision making, the brain stem leaps to the task. If the Parachute Reflex in hypo active and the arms do not raise high enough, ouch, the face plant will be the end. If hyperactive and the arms raise too high in front, ouch, face plant again is the result. Whether you are conscious of this dilemma or not, the brain is aware that if you fall, the results could be serious. This underlying anxiety can change the way we move.

If you can come join us.

HANDLE Principles Part 1

As a new year and decade commence, I will be laying out the Principles of HANDLE as often articulated by Judith Bluestone.

#1 All behavior is communication.

This principle may at first seem obvious, but in everyday life many of us seek to end behaviors before trying to understand what is being communicated. In the case of dangerous behavior, obviously, the first priority must be to safety. But many behaviors of others activate our own behaviors and filters, interfering with us seeing what a behavior could really mean. We assume the meaning is to activate us and this may be true. However, before merely activating a predictable response, the behavior had its genesis in some need to communicate. Always ask, "In the universe of behavior choices, why this one?"

Once in my past life as an elementary school administrator, a second grade teacher reported a student as having disrespectful behavior. I asked (as I always ask), "What did the behavior look like?" She showed me by placing her hands on her hips and head turned to one side. This is a non-verbal that reads, "Oh yeah? Try and make me." However, I was not satified I understood the behavior totally. After reading the school file I realized the the student was nearly blind in one eye and had stability issues. Hands on hips for stability and head turned so that the good eye is on the speaker. Be careful about assuming the interpretation of behavior at once.

Also remember that our own behavior is also communication. Watch "Dog Whisperer" if you don't believe me.

Importance of Vitamin D3 Supplements

One of last year's biggest vitamin stories was the discovery that almost all people in northern climes do not get anywhere near enough Vitamin D3. The RDA for D was doubled and some scientists think that it should be increased even more, especially for children. Vitamin D comes from exposure to the sun and is probably part of the reason one feels so good after time in the sun (sans sunburn). We need to have 40% of our skin in direct contact with the sun for at least 20 minutes a day to get the amount of D3 we need. Living in Minnesota, I can tell you that NO ONE I know can get that amount in the winter. People of African, Asian and Middle Eastern descent need more to fulfill the requirement. The ubiquitous use of sun screen has increased the problem.

Back in the old days, children would get rickets in northern cities, so D was added to milk and it is still there. However, preventing rickets, a disease of malformed bone growth , needs only minimal D for prevention. The D allows calcium to be absorbed for bone formation, but it affects what I like to call the "lesser bones" or tissues that are made of more or less the same material as bones in differing viscosity. Even a little shortage of D3 in the system can effect bones (osteoporosis?) connective tissue( fibromyalgia?), skin (eczemia?), muscle (chronic fatique?)and mood (seasonal depression?).

I know you're asking, "But eskimos live in the north and have dark skin." True, but in their traditional diet they live mainly on fish, filled with fish oil and Vitamin D!

Birth, Bonding and Attachment: The Book Part I

I have been grappling with a book on sensory-motor-reflex interactions for years. As with all writing projects, the structure and emphasis is key. So after many false starts, I think I have found the right approach. The direction will center on difficult births and the connection between them and reflex issues that can result in bonding, attachment and other psychological issues. As I teach the Birth, Bonding and Attachment course and work with clients, the more I come to appreciate the foundations set by typical reflex development. Having myself been breech born and delivered by forceps (sorry, Mom), I have a first person experience with many of the subtle and not so subtle effects of traumatic birth. Look forward to snippets as the year goes on and please feel free to comment in any way.

New Year: New Connections

The mission of this blog is to exchange and pass on knowledge about the importance of sensory-motor-reflex interactons in life and learning.

The Bodhi Tree of Sensory-Motor

I spent most of the weekend working on a new interaction chart for sensory-motor interactions. After a few tries I came up with something that reminded me of a banyan tree. After a little more research, I learned that the banyan tree is a direct relative of the Bodhi Tree where Buddha found enlightenment. Accident? I think not.

I hope to add the picture soon. I like the model, because it adds memory types and social and verbal processing to a higher degree than HANDLE®'s Spaghetti chart, as well as the body senses.

Parietal Lobe and Language

In my work in Spatial Cognition and Language, I have used many different developmental timeline of body-space, verbal and nonverbal language and very early reflexive patterns of what I call push energy to study how language develops.

The concept of the need for "push" and "reach" reflexive patterns that are later integrated with voluntary push and reach motion was corroborated by Japanese scientists, Ishbashi Tidetoshi and Iriki Atsushi in the study The role of the parietal lobe in monkey tool-use published in the journal Advances in Neurological Sciences in 2004. In a nutshell, this study showed that when monkeys intentionally used rakes to reach food out of their grasps, the area of the brain used was the same as the area used by humans to speak.

So when you "grasp" an idea, you need to grasp and reach with that rattle first.

Mourning the Passing of Judith Bluestone, Founder of The Handle Institute International

On February 18th, 2009, two days after sharing a plane ride back to the U.S. from HANDLE's World Wide Affiliate Gathering in the U.K., my mentor and friend, Judith Bluestone released her body and merged with the energy that is life. I say this because one of her favorite sayings was, "We are energetic beings in an energetic world." Her healing gift and haliographic mind was a treasure and inspiration to us all. She will be sadly missed.

Big Eight Reflex Patterning Class-Brighton, U.K.

On February 10th, 11th and 12th, I had great joy in sharing the holistic approach to working with the basic Big Eight Primary and Facial Reflex Patterns in England. The class was well attended at Pilgrim Hall near Lewes, Sussex. I also worked with 4 students as clients as well, with many positive results. A manual, Powerpoint DVD and the first GOMO and Handwriting DVD were made available.

After the class was the HANDLE World Wide Affiliate Gathering, with presentations by Judith Bluestone, the founder of The HANDLE Institute International and Ros Blackburn, a 40 year old woman who has lived with Autism Spectrum Disorder her entire life. I got to eat dinner with Ros and was able to ask her questions about her and other's issues with auditory processing. I ask questions about all my hypotheses on Spatial Cognition and Language. All the answers followed my predictions.

As my MN Autism Society presentation draws near, I will be posting more on Spatial Cognition and Language.

I'm Back-Summer 2008 and Reflexes

For a while I thought no one could get to my blog and who would read it? Turns out some people do. I will continue this with topics from time to time.

SUmmer of 2008 was very eventful. Challenging Children class with Svetlana Masgutove in MN, Dream workshop with Harald Blomberg.

Svetlana went over the most common diagnosis of neurodevelopment: Autism, ADHD, dyslexia, anxiety, low motivation, Cerebral Palsy, MR, and aggression. She presented new statistics of the frequency of hyper, hypo and atypical reflexes in each.

In both seminars, Fear/Paralysis is the new discussion point. It seems to boil down to some simple points: 1. F/P is an early pre-reflexive pattern that is not only muscular, but is cellular. 2. It is habituated in the first 3 mo. in utero. 3. It is activated with sensory triggers.
Moro is proprioceptively activated, but later can be sensory activated. So far I have seen no case where a client had F.P but no Moro retention. However, there are cases of Moro without F/P.

This is all very twisty. I often use my own situation to study these two. I had a 100% retained Moro reflex that was activated with proprioceptive, auditory, tactile and visual challenge. I did not have Fear/Paralysis or I worked through it in life. I also had retained Spinal Galant, another core reflex, which is tactilely activated. Sensitivity in sensory channels must play a role in whether a reflex is integrated or stays integrated. This is Judith Bluestone's view, as well.

Harald Blomberg's class on dreams interpretation as body and brain communication was very interesting. I have been asking my clients for their dreams since last year and have many that fit the pattern of the nervous system of the spine, lower brain and prefrontal cortex communicating and trying to integrate. I hope to devote more time for this later.

Another P.P.

3. This one is the need of people for a silver bullet or magic pill approach to learning differences. No matter what anyone tells you there is no one "right" answer to these issues. Usually neuro-development, like all health takes a well-thought out approach. No one diet, activity, habit, therapy or medication helps in all ways. Usually all these components need to be considered and balanced with the life, environment and needs of the family as a whole. HANDLE(R)'s "H" stands for Holistic. Systems thinking demands seeing the big picture and the trade offs.