Occupational Therapy

Primary reflexes are movement patterns which emerge during fetal life and are critical for the survival of the newborn (infant rooting reflex, sucking reflex). Primary reflexes are obvious during the first six months of life and used by paediatricians to assess the neurological integrity of the newborn baby. As the nervous system develops, they are inhibited or transformed. The persistence and presence of primary reflexes beyond their normal timespan (12 months) interferes with subsequent development and indicates neurological impairment. More than 70 primary reflexes have been identified and they may be classified in several ways - e.g. according to function, time of appearance or the type of stimulus which releases them. The findings during the neurological examination in infancy, especially in the newborn period, differ markedly from those present in children and adults.