Abstract
Persisting primary reflexes is one of the causes of behavioral and learning disorders. However, we do not know, how many children in ordinary preschool and primary school classes in the Czech Republic have persisting primary reflexes.
Support for successful inclusive education can be specific movement intervention programs for children with persisting primary reflexes. The primary reflexes are a set of movement patterns that emerge in utero and their appearance at this early stage of development suggests that they may play an important role in determining central nervous system functioning (Illingworth, 1987).
Those reflexes are movements that are automatic and do not require thinking. That is why the primary reflexes are critical for the survival of the newborn ensuring that the baby can breathe and feed (for example the Moro reflex or infant suck and rooting reflexes).
The reflexes involve changes in the level and distribution of tone which primarily can affect posture and movement (Berne, 2006). As the nervous system develops, however, they are inhibited or transformed and the persistence of primary reflexes beyond their normal timespan (12 months) interferes with subsequent development and indicates neurological impairment (Holt, 1994).
Severe persistence of primary reflexes indicates predominantly intractable organic problems as in cerebral palsy (Bobath & Bobath, 1988), while milder persistence is associated with less severe disorders including learning disabilities (Morrison, 1985). That is why further research should be conducted to identify children who may need special intervention.
Specific movement intervention programs for children with persisting primary reflexes are already developed, but we miss fundamental research which shows how special educators work with this program and what is the success rate for children with learning difficulties.