Releasing Intelligence through Movement
The Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology (INPP) is a research led organization
with therapists working both nationally and internationally. It has focused on children’s
developmental readiness for optimal learning and achievement and has compiled
methods of assessment and intervention which produce measurable improvement for
many children. Intervention involves using a programme of simple physical exercises for
ten minutes each day.
Movement as the basis for learning
All learning is connected in some way to the control of movement. Reading, for
example, depends on the development of stable eye movements. Writing involves
coordination between the hand and the eyes and copying requires repeated adjustment
of head position and focusing distance. Each one of these activities taps into a different
motor skill and postural ability.
Movement is also an integral component of behaviour. Just to sit still a child must be
able to inhibit movement to maintain stable posture or there will be a constant need to
fidget, squirm and change position. In terms of social integration, up to 90 per cent of
communication is based on the non-verbal aspects of language such as posture, gesture,
eye contact and tone of voice. Children who have problems in controlling their own
bodies often have difficulty reading the body language of others and respond
inappropriately to social cues. This can antagonise adults as well as making the child a
soft target for teasing and bullying amongst peers.
The ability to remain still depends in part on a well functioning balance mechanism.
Good balance allows us to remain still over a narrow base of support. When balance is
unstable we tend to widen our frame of reference, if standing, by putting the feet
further apart, using our arms to assist balance or increasing speed or amount of
movement. This is why some parents are surprised when their child performs poorly on
balance and co-ordination assessments as they are often perceived as good and
successful at sport. Children can often compensate for balance problems as long as they
can perform at speed but have difficulty or ‘give up’ on a task as soon as they are asked
to slow down. These may also be the children who have difficulty sitting still and paying
attention.
Developing posture and coordination
The first lesson in posture begins at birth when a baby experiences the full force of
gravity for the first time. It will take an infant an average of 12 months to develop the
muscle tone, balance, and sensory-motor coordination to stand on his own two feet.
The upright posture is not just an innate ability hardwired into the brain from
conception. It is also the product of countless movement patterns carried out by the
developing child in the first 21 months after conception. Many of these movements
carry within them traces of the movements of our distant evolutionary ancestors from
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the fish like movements made in the womb through to crawling (reptile), creeping
(mammal) and ‘cruising’ (primate) on two feet. Every movement helps to strengthen
connections between the body and the brain. The experience of movement helps to
build the architecture of the brain by strengthening pathways between nerves and
association areas, which eventually provide a stable platform for coherent perception.
What role does movement play in specific learning difficulties?
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Dyslexia – problems in the direction and sequencing of movement.
Dyspraxia – difficulties with the visualisation, imitation and organisation of
motor output.
Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) – difficulty with the inhibition of
movement
Autistic spectrum disorders – lack of perceptual coherence, resulting in part from
poor sensory motor integration
Reflexes – trailblazers for later development
Many of the movements made in the first months of life are reflexive. Reflexes are
stereotyped responses to specific stimuli and are carried out without conscious
involvement. The first reflexes, known as ‘Primitive’ reflexes, such as the infant grasp
and sucking reflex, are gradually inhibited by the developing brain in the first six months
of life to be replaced by ‘Postural’ reflexes. Postural reflexes provide the basis for
unconscious control of posture, balance and coordination in a gravity-based
environment.
If the transition from primitive to postural reflex is not completed in the first three and a
half years of life, the child will experience problems with balance and coordination.
Retained rooting and suck reflexes, for example, can interfere with the development of
clear speech as control of the muscles at the front of the mouth are affected, and
tongue position and swallow pattern remain immature. Retained grasping reflexes can
affect pencil grip when trying to write because the thumb curls under the fingers when a
pen or pencil is placed between the thumb and forefinger.
Other reflexes connected to the functioning of the balance mechanism affect specific
aspects of learning. The balance mechanism located in each inner ear is connected to
centres in the brain involved in control of the body, eye movements and the regulation
and modulation of motor output. A well functioning balance mechanism is also
necessary for the understanding of a sense of direction The asymmetrical tonic neck
reflex can affect handwriting, horizontal eye movements and the development of
laterality (preferred use of the same side for preferred hand, foot, eye and ear). The
symmetrical tonic neck reflex affects coordination between the upper and lower halves
of the body, is associated with poor muscle tone and can often be seen in the child who
has poor sitting posture and who tends to slump on the desk when writing.
Under-developed postural reflexes, such as the headrighting reflexes, affect not only
posture and muscle tone but can also impair the development of eye movements such
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as convergence and tracking, upon which reading and writing and even catching a ball
depend.
Fit for optimal learning
The developmental movement programme devised at INPP has been designed to target
immature reflexes and correct them by harnessing the movements normally made by
the developing child in the first year of life – the time in development when the reflexes
are naturally integrated. This programme differs from many other motor training
programmes by focusing specifically on the reflex patterns that precede the acquisition
of upright balance and coordination. In other words, whereas other programmes
concentrate on practising certain motor skills and balance tasks, and others start at the
crawling and creeping stages of motor development, the INPP programmes spend eight
to nine months building into the brain and the body the motor vocabulary through
which all more complex forms of movement are articulated. While this may not be
necessary for all children, it is beneficial to those children whose reflexes remain
immature. The key to the success of any intervention programme is to tailor it to the
developmental capabilities of the child.
Signs and symptoms of immature reflexes in the classroom
Asymmetrical tonic neck reflex (ATNR)
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Writing problems.
Homolateral patterns of movement when asked to march, walk or skip.
Writing may change half way across the page or the child may be unwilling to use
the bottom of the page when writing.
Child may sit or place work at an awkward angle.
Discrepancy in standard of oral and written work.
Poor integration in coordination of the two sides of the body.
Symmetrical tonic neck reflex (STNR)
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Poor posture and muscle tone.
Tendency to ‘lie’ across the desk when writing, to tuck the feet under the body
or to wind them round the chair when sitting.
‘W’ leg position when sitting on the floor.
Slowness in copying.
Difficulty catching a ball.
Messy eating.
Poor coordination between upper and lower body.
Difficulty learning to swim.
Tonic labyrinthine reflex (TLR)
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Poor standing posture.
Poor balance and muscle tone
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Balance related problems, such as a tendency to motion sickness and spatial
problems.
Eye movements necessary for reading may be poorly developed.
Visual-perceptual problems.
The programme has been in use since 1996 and has been the subject of small
independent research projects in a number of schools. Each school has found a
significant improvement in the children’s reflex status following the programme. Several
schools have also carried out controlled trials with a small number of pupils who were
identified as underachieving and who were subsequently found to have immature
reflexes. The studies revealed significant improvement in reflexes in the experimental
groups, compared to control groups following the movement programme. This has also
been reflected in improved academic scores. A number of research projects are
currently being carried out by a number of universities in Northern Ireland, Eire and
England.
Summary
Motor skills are the primary tools of learning. Attention occurs when there is orientation
to a particular stimulus – orientation is characterised by a sudden stillness, and with the
ability to inhibit action, to have control over reflex response and to engage fully with the
task at hand.
The fluent expression of thought, whether it is through speech, writing or drawing,
depends on control of appropriate muscular activity, and muscular control begins with
reflex maturity and control of balance. Memory has its roots in the association between
nerve cells which is improved by repetition and practice. Even thought, in its many
guises, begins as an internalised form of action. In this sense, Attention, Balance and
Coordination are the primary A,B,C upon which all higher forms of learning are built.
The INPP programmes are just one method of helping children to build this motor
vocabulary into the brain by working with the body.
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