Children with ADHD are often described as inattentive, impulsive, or hyperactive. What is less often discussed is that the nervous system itself may be contributing to those patterns in ways that go beyond brain chemistry. For a significant number of children with an ADHD diagnosis, retained primitive reflexes are part of the picture, and addressing them can make a meaningful difference to how manageable daily life feels.
An Important Starting Point
ADHD is a real, recognised neurodevelopmental condition. A diagnosis reflects something meaningful about how a child's brain is built and how it functions, and neurodevelopmental therapy will not change that diagnosis, remove it, or make the condition disappear. That is not what we are here to do, and it is not something we would aspire to.
Many children with ADHD are creative, energetic, and laterally brilliant. The goal of working with Think Thrive is never to flatten those qualities. It is to address the underlying neurological factors that make everyday life harder than it needs to be, so that children can access their strengths more freely.
If your child has received an ADHD diagnosis and you feel they need additional support, please continue to work with your GP, paediatrician, or specialist. Neurodevelopmental therapy works best alongside other forms of support, not instead of them.
What Do Retained Reflexes Have to Do With ADHD?
Primitive reflexes are automatic movements that develop in the womb and are essential during the first year of life. They are designed to integrate as the central nervous system matures, becoming absorbed into higher-level functioning. When they do not fully integrate, they remain active and continue to demand neurological resources, disrupting the processes that support attention, impulse control, and self-regulation.
Several reflexes are commonly associated with ADHD-like presentations:
- The Moro reflex The newborn startle response. When retained, it keeps the nervous system in a state of heightened alert, making it difficult to filter out distractions, sustain attention, and regulate emotional responses. This can look very similar to ADHD hypervigilance and impulsivity.
- The Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR) Normally active until around six months, the ATNR links head movement to arm and leg extension. When it persists, it can disrupt the smooth integration of left and right sides of the brain, making tasks that require sequential thinking, reading, and sustained focus considerably harder.
- The Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (STNR) This reflex connects head position to upper and lower body tone. When retained, children often struggle to sit still comfortably. The body may be working against them physically, which can appear as restlessness or poor posture, and compound attention difficulties.
- The Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex (TLR) Connected to balance, muscle tone, and spatial awareness. When retained, it can affect a child's ability to stay organised in their body and their environment, which often overlaps with the organisational and sequencing difficulties seen in ADHD.
"Retained reflexes do not cause ADHD. But they can significantly add to the load a child with ADHD is already carrying."
How Neurodevelopmental Therapy Can Help
The INPP method uses a tailored programme of daily movements to support the integration of retained reflexes. This is not an exercise programme in the conventional sense. Each movement is selected specifically to replicate the developmental patterns that drive reflex integration, working with the nervous system rather than against it.
As reflexes begin to integrate, many families report that their child becomes less reactive, more able to sit comfortably, better able to focus for longer periods, and less easily overwhelmed by sensory input. These are neurological shifts, not behavioural strategies, and they tend to feel more sustainable because they address something at its root.
Tomatis sound therapy can be a valuable addition for children whose attention and listening difficulties have an auditory processing component. The Tomatis Method works through the ear to support the brain's ability to filter, focus on, and process sound, which underpins the kind of sustained listening attention that school and daily life demand.
Is This Relevant to Your Child?
If your child has an ADHD diagnosis and you feel that something else is also going on, that they seem more reactive, more overwhelmed, or more physically unsettled than their diagnosis alone would explain, it may be worth exploring whether retained reflexes are contributing. An assessment will give a clear picture, and there is no obligation to proceed further.
Rebecca holds a Licentiate of INPP (Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology) and is a Tomatis Level 2 Practitioner. She brings over 20 years of classroom experience and a personal understanding of what it means to support a neurodiverse child.