Neuro Developmental Therapy
Neuro Developmental Therapy For Children In Inishowen
Helping Your Child Reach Their Full Potential Through Movement Based Intervention
Is your child finding it difficult to concentrate at school, experiencing poor balance or coordination, or showing signs of anxiety or behavioural issues? These challenges may be linked to developmental delays and retained primitive reflexes, often overlooked yet critical to your child’s growth.
At NDT Inishowen, we specialise in Neuro Developmental Therapy (NDT) a non invasive, movement based program designed to support the healthy development of your child's brain and central nervous system. Our approach is based on the trusted INPP (Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology) Method, a leading framework in this field since 1975.
What Is Neuro Developmental Therapy?
What Is Neurodevelopmental Delay?
As a result of reflexes being retained, we refer to the collective effect on the system as a developmental delay. As the brain develops in stages, beginning with lower levels of function, each developmental stage serves as a foundation for the later, more advanced stages. If there is any interruption to these crucial, early, foundational stages, then this can result in some areas of the brain maturing late. This can have a significant impact on the appropriate functioning of the central nervous system and affect all aspects of physical, cognitive, behavioural, emotional and social development - and particularly learning.
What Are Primitive Reflexes?
Primitive Reflexes are instinctive, automatic, reflex movements in babies that help them to survive, grow and develop. You know some of these reflexes. For example, the Suck Reflex: in order to feed, newborns are able to suck automatically the moment that something is placed in their mouths. When you put your finger into a newborn baby's hand, their fingers will close around yours automatically: this is the Palmar Reflex. There are many more such reflexes which, ordinarily, we quickly grow out of. Usually these reflexes are inhibited by the time we are a year old and replaced by postural reflexes which remain for life. As our primitive reflexes are inhibited, the parts of our brain needed for us to learn to walk, run, read, write and so on, begin to grow and develop. These parts of the brain can only develop fully when the primitive reflexes have developed fully and are then inhibited and replaced by postural reflexes. If this process has not occurred or has been interrupted at any stage there may be difficulties in learning to do certain things.
Some Reasons That May Cause Primitive Reflexes To Be Retained?
Stress or trauma during pregnancy, including:
Hypertension (high blood pressure),
anxiety or emotional distress, loss or bereavement, premature birth.
Birthing difficulties or birth traumas, which may contribute to developmental delay.
Hereditary factors, with strong evidence suggesting a genetic link in:
Behavioural patterns, general motor coordination and learning difficulties.
What Are The Signs Of Retained PR?
Retention of primitive reflexes can lead to a range of neurological and physical effects. Children may experience mild delays in neurological development and struggle with balance and coordination, such as difficulty riding a bike or catching a ball. These physical challenges often extend to academic skills, including reading, handwriting, and other written tasks. Spatial awareness difficulties can impact mathematical abilities, while problems with sequencing may make it harder to remember spellings or math facts. Emotionally and socially, affected children might appear overly sensitive, quiet, or shy. Conversely, some may exhibit emotional intensity, including frequent mood swings that can affect their behavior and relationships.
In early development, there may be signs such as feeding or breathing difficulties in infancy, poor eye contact, and delays in crawling, walking, or talking. Sometimes, children skip or modify developmental milestones—for example, bunny hopping instead of crawling or engaging in head banging. Toilet training and speech development may also be delayed. Once children reach school age, challenges can become more noticeable. These may include poor pencil grip and messy handwriting, impulsivity, a short attention span, and difficulty forming peer relationships. Learning new skills and coping with academic tasks may be especially hard.
Over the long term, as academic and social demands increase, children may find it harder to cope. This can lead to heightened stress and anxiety, reduced confidence, and low self-esteem, sometimes accompanied by behavioral issues.
What Age?
This very much depends on the child and their ability to do the exercises. The ideal age to start the programme is 7 years-old. However, Neuro Developmental Therapists see clients of all ages from children to adults.
Is NDT Used For Adults?
Neuro developmental Therapy can be of benefit for any individual that has retained primitive reflexes. However, if an adult wants to undertake a programme, we suggest that they have a very supportive environment as the changes that occur may release past thought patterns and emotional memories. Discussion with a Neuro Developmental Therapist is recommended to determine suitability.
Must The Programme Last For Life?
No. Once the primitive reflexes have been inhibited they remain so, while still being available in cases of trauma, as is the case in normal development. With Neuro Developmental Therapy, the gains made are lasting.
Do I Need A Referral?
No. A Healthcare professional, such as an Occupational Therapist, Physiotherapist, Educational Psychologist or Teacher may have identified that your child has developmental immaturity issues and recommend contacting a Neuro Developmental Therapist for further investigation. However referral from a Healthcare practitioner is not essential.
About Sinéad O’Toole
With over 25 years of experience as a primary school teacher, I have dedicated my career to understanding and harnessing the benefits of movement for learning. My journey with the INPP (Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology) began through professional training in assessing neuromotor readiness and implementing school-based interventions. Since then, I’ve seen first hand the transformative impact of the INPP method on children facing challenges with learning, coordination, attention, and underachievement.
Further training at the Institute enabled me to become a qualified Neurodevelopmental Therapist. I now offer Neurodevelopmental Therapy for children, delivering individualised programs of physical exercises designed to remove barriers to learning caused by immature reflexes. I am based in Buncrana, County Donegal and I provide flexible arrangements for setting up my clinic or delivering talks and workshops tailored to schools, educators, and parents.
For more information or to arrange a consultation, please use the links in the footer or main menu.
If you have concerns that your child may have retained some of their primitive reflexes and feel that this could be holding them back from reaching their full potential, please contact us or complete the screening questionnaire that can be found on our page about the Neuro Developmental Therapy process.
Contact NDT Inishowen
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Monday to Friday, 4.00 pm to 6.00pm
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