Candia Slaughter

PGDip in Occupational Therapy, MSc in Health through Occupation , Neurological assessment and intervention of retained primitive and postural reflexes, Certified Sensory Attachment Intervention Therapist
Website: beaconhouse.org.uk/specialist-clinics/occupational-therapy
I am a children's OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST (OT). In the Brighton Consulting Rooms, I specialise in assessing and supporting children with retained primitive and postural reflexes which impacts their movement, senses, learning and regulation. Through a movement programme we can support the connections between children's bodies and brains. My work in other sites is as a trauma trained and trauma sensitive sensory and attachment therapist focusing on co-regulation between care givers and children who have grown through developmental trauma. I bring this trauma sensitivity and attachment awareness to my reflexes work. Registered and regulated by Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Member of British Association of Occupational Therapists (BAOT) and College of Occupational Therapists (COT)

What are primitive and postural reflexes ?

Reflexes are involuntary patterns of movement. Primitive reflexes are the automatic movements that aid a baby's survival in utero and as an infant. They include emotional reflexes. They typically settle (integrate) in the first year of life. Later primitive reflexes help a baby to move and explore. These are the foundations for more specific and controlled movements.

Postural reflexes are movements vital for postural control, stability, balance, awareness of body and planning movements. 

These reflexes should integrate to enable the child to move automatically, supporting emotional stability, play and learning.

Sometimes, experiences or disruptions in the womb, during birth or in early infancy mean that some or all of these reflexes either do not develop correctly, or do not integrate. The outcome of this depends on the reflex and ranges from: high emotional or shutdown responses especially to sensory input such as movement or sound; uncoordinated movement; sensory processing difficulties; difficulty concentrating, learning, reading and writing.  A movement and activity programme for parents/carers or support staff to do with their children daily will support the reflexes to integrate/settle .

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