WITH

INTEGRATE SUCCESS

THE RETAINED
PRIMITIVE REFLEXES
ROADMAP

© Integrated Learning Strategies LLC 2021

 Maybe you’ve heard about retained Primitive Reflexes, but you just aren’t sure if it’s
the missing piece for your child or students.

OR

Maybe you HAVE heard of retained Primitive Reflexes and have worked on a little bit
of integration, but you haven’t been consistent and didn’t see the results you were
hoping for.

Either way, the Retained Primitive Reflexes Roadmap will help.

TRUTH TIME: Many years ago, I started working with kids who needed more help
than just academics. They laid on their desks, they slumped in their chair, they would
cry or get mad at the drop of a hat…and they still weren’t learning. I had NO CLUE
what the missing piece was that could turn their learning potential around.

I spent YEARS incorporating movement-based activities into the child’s routine and
changed up many methods and strategies. While progress was made, there were
still gaps. Sigh.

A LOT has changed since then and now we have helped hundreds of children
integrate Retained Primitive Reflexes to better support their overall development and
learning foundation to fill those missing pieces. Integrating retained Primitive
Reflexes has helped fill many of those gaps and is one element that gives kids the
added support needed for stronger academic growth.

This roadmap will walk you through the first steps

towards integrating retained Primitive Reflexes for your
own child or students.

If you have any questions, make sure to ask inside our

free Facebook group here.

Let’s get those kids moving and learning!

Alene Villaneda
Creator of Integrate with Success

© Integrated Learning Strategies LLC 2021 THE RETAINED PRIMITIVE REFLEXES ROADMAP
 STEP 1: Ask questions about your
child or student’s development
STEP 3: Test for Retained Primitive
Did the child have a traumatic birth? Did
Reflexes (children three and older)
they have a head injury after birth as a
toddler or youth? Try to find the root of Complete a series of testing exercises to
retention and if it was at birth or if some evaluate and determine if one or more
other traumatic event in the child’s life primitive reflexes is retained.

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may have triggered retention.

1 STEP 2: Write down signs of retention 3 STEP 4: Organize a

flexible integration
Write down what the child is experiencing. timeline and schedule
Anything from motor and developmental
delays to emotional, behavioral and Because each child is
learning delays. Did the child crawl? Is the unique and different, full
child sensitive to light, sound, texture? integration will happen
Can they attend and focus? Are their according to the severity
emotions age-appropriate? and unique circumstances
of the child. Begin with a

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STEP 5: Determine Order of flexible timeline for the
Integration child’s needs and adjust
according to their
Begin integration exercises based on progress.
the reflexes that are retained. If only
one is retained, work on that specific
reflex. If all reflexes are retained, start
with the reflex that was developed first
in utero and then build your way up to
the next reflex. Adjustments should be
made based on the child’s specific
needs.
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STEP 6: Create a plan for positive
compliance

Put an integration plan in place to help STEP 8: Mix-in other

the child stay positive and dedicated to Activities
completing the exercises. Choose a good
time of day, set aside a specific time to As you work on

6 perform the exercises, and use tools or

manipulatives like balls, bean bags or
integrating retained
Primitive Reflexes, insert
other movement-based
socks to keep the exercises fresh, new,
and fun. activities to support
STEP 7: Begin Integration Exercises integration. Additional
exercises such as crossing
Use movement-based exercises to
the midline activities,
help the child integrate the reflexes
hand-eye coordination
that are retained. Exercises should be
activities, core strength
done slow and purposefully. You may
have to help the child or move their
body in the correct positions until they
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activities and balance
activities will support
integration and may aid in
have built up their body strength to
better and faster results.
perform exercises on their own.

© Integrated Learning Strategies LLC 2021 THE RETAINED PRIMITIVE REFLEXES ROADMAP
 SIGNS OF RETENTION
REFLEX MILESTONES

Primitive Purpose Appears Integrated Signs of

Reflex of Reflex by... Retention

Physical Sensitivity to sensory information

FEAR paralysis to In the The time the (touch, sound, light, smell and taste),
balance issues, clumsy, falls over,
PARALYSIS perceived womb baby is born struggles with sports, low stress
tolerance, shows signs of "freezing"
danger when in a stressful situation

Fight or flight 2 to 4 months Sensory overload, Hypersensitivity,

MORO Birth Anxiety, Poor impulse control, easily
reaction old distracted, mood swings

Helps with
SPINAL the birthing Birth
3 to 9 months
Posture issues, fidgeting, attention
and focus issues, bedwetting after

GALANT process
old age 5, poor short-term memory

Assists baby Poor hand-eye coordination, trouble

crossing the midline, poor fine motor
ATNR through birth Birth 6 months old skills (handwriting), visual tracking
issues for reading
canal

Prepares
6 to 9 9 to 11 W-sitting, poor muscle tone, poor
STNR baby for
months months old
hand-eye coordination, low
concentration
crawling

Head
management Toe walking, poor muscle tone,
TLR and posture
In utero 3 1/2 years motion sickness, spatial awareness
issue

stability

© Integrated Learning Strategies LLC 2021 THE RETAINED PRIMITIVE REFLEXES ROADMAP
 MISTAKES TO AVOID
Mistake #1: There Is No Mind/Body Connection

Most people don’t believe there is a connection between the body and the brain, which is why
many people don’t understand the benefit of integrating retained Primitive Reflexes. Hundreds of
our participants used movement-based exercises to build that connection with the body and the
brain to integrate retained Primitive Reflexes. Their children and students began showing
improvements with attention and focus, sensory sensitivities, awareness of the world around them,
emotional grounding, and higher academic learning.

HOWEVER, results like these don’t “just happen” without a strategy in place. Each movement-
based exercise you do with the child must be purposeful with a goal in mind. Certain movements
help create more connections within the brain than others. Do you know which types of movement
can help close the gaps and build those connections?

Mistake #2: I’m not adding retained Primitive Reflexes exercises to my therapy and in-home
sessions

Adding exercises to help integrate retained Primitive Reflexes may seem overwhelming or just too
much added movement to your child or students’ daily and weekly routines. Sometimes, without
guidance and “hand-holding” it seems impossible. But the great news is all of these movements
should be done slow and purposefully anyway. And, it’s not as hard as you may think to add one or
two new exercises to your routine. Think of your journey toward integration as a marathon, not a
sprint. Instead of lengthening your sessions and in-home routines, add one exercise as a warm-up
and progress toward more based on the child’s needs. It’s important to remember, many kids need
the combination of different types of movement anyway for better and more successful
integration.

Mistake #3: Reflex integration is not tied to a child’s learning

I always hear parents say, “I just want my child to read. Why are you talking to me about reflex
integration?” Or, “I just want my child to remember their homework. They don’t need movement to
help them do these tasks.” If you want a child to learn, you have to take a step back and look at the
child holistically to determine if there are any other external issues preventing the child from
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learning. If the child can’t sit in their chair and they constantly have to move about the classroom,
the last thing on their mind is “what homework do I have?” We need to FIRST work on those
foundational elements of the child’s overall development or the gaps will continue to get wider.

Remember, learning should become automatic. But when there are retained Primitive Reflexes and

© Integrated Learning Strategies LLC 2021 THE RETAINED PRIMITIVE REFLEXES ROADMAP
 other developmental delays, learning cannot happen. Retained Primitive Reflexes are at the very
foundation of the child’s development and can support even the simplest tasks in the classroom.
Holding a pencil, supporting the child’s body as they sit in their chair, developing the control of the
head for copying notes from the chalkboard, retaining facts and so much more. When reflex
integration exercises are added into the child’s daily routine, many other aspects of learning will
start CLICKING for the child. A whole new integration routine doesn’t have to be added to the
child’s weekly schedule, but consistency does.

PSSST!
It’s NOT TOO LATE to get serious about integrating retained Primitive Reflexes to build those
connections for higher learning. Our Integrate with Success program opens for enrollment twice a
year…

BUT, you can get a head start with all the FREE resources we offer on our website and inside my
own Facebook group. See you inside!

to join me and more than 7,000 parents, Occupational Therapists and other education professionals in the
CLICK HERE free Primitive Reflexes 101 Facebook group.
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© Integrated Learning Strategies LLC 2021 THE RETAINED PRIMITIVE REFLEXES ROADMAP