What are Primitive Reflexes? 

Primitive reflexes are automatic movement patterns we’re all born with. They begin developing in the womb around 6 weeks into pregnancy and play a crucial role in early movement, development, and survival. These reflexes help establish essential connections between the brain and the body’s basic functions—like posture, coordination, sensory processing, and self-regulation.

As a child grows, these reflexes are meant to integrate, or fade into the background. However, if they don’t integrate properly, or if they aren’t fully activated during early development, they can interfere with how a child moves, learns, pays attention, and manages emotions. This can lead to lasting challenges in physical, emotional, or cognitive development.

Signs of retained primitive reflexes may appear in children or adults with challenges related to:

• Attention and focus

• Toilet training (day and night time)

• Vision (tracking, scanning, dyslexia)

• Sensory Processing

• Anxiety, depression, or trauma

• Fine and gross motor coordination

• Reading, writing, and learning

• Feeding and oral motor skills

• Delays in daily living skills

• Birth or medical trauma (e.g., NICU stay, surgeries)

• Emotional regulation and sensory processing

• Sleep