This was the case with Weisman Children’s patient Matthew, age 6, who was discovered to have retained his primitive Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR), a reflex that usually diminishes at six months, and his Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (STNR), a reflex that usually diminishes around nine to ten months. This had unknowingly affected him for almost his entire life. “We saw him struggling with everyday activities.
He would press very hard when he was writing or coloring, he would get frustrated and give up on certain things like riding a bike, and when he would get excited; it usually overwhelmed him very quickly. As he got older these types of instances kept getting more noticeable,” explained his mother Kelly. “We felt like something was holding him back, but just couldn’t put our finger on what it was.” Matthew’s parents wanted help for their son, and that is where Weisman Children’s stepped in.
Matthew’s retained reflexes made it difficult for him to control his movements and to perceive sensory input, which led to extreme fatigue and frustration. Matthew’s occupational therapist, Felicia Castagna explained this further, “Normally, with our adaptive response, we know to move our hand if we touch something hot or our bodies tell us when we are pressing too hard when writing or drawing. When he started receiving services, Matthew did not have that ability; his body did not respond instinctively in those situations like most of us do without thinking.”
To make matters more interesting, Matthew began his therapy with Weisman Children’s at the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic. His parents elected to go with telehealth services, a decision they soon were very thankful was available to them. Kelly explained, “At first I thought it was going to be more of a challenge, but we quickly discovered that the video calls allowed for a comfortable environment for Matthew, which in turn helped him get really invested into his sessions.” She continued, “As a mom with three kids, I’m short on time. Telehealth allows me to not have to worry about travel time and we can focus right on the therapy. Most importantly, I get to be more hands on during the session than I normally would, which is a tremendous help for me. I have a deeper understanding of what is going on with Matt and how Felicia is working with him. I also have a better read on what Matt struggles with and what he needs more time and attention on, which helps when we are practicing everything Felicia taught us between his therapy sessions.”
From the start, Felicia made her telehealth sessions with Matthew fun and exciting, and before long, Matthew started to show tremendous improvement. Felicia would plan activities for Matthew that felt more like games, rather than therapeutic exercises, such as hopping across the room with a ball between his legs, something that even his younger sibling wanted to start playing as well. Kelly added, “He is always excited about his occupational therapy. It is something he looks forward to because she makes it fun and relatable. Instead of being simple exercises, Felicia would call them ‘superhero training exercises’. I really appreciate how she always finds workarounds when he becomes frustrated and helps him overcome them.” Felicia notes, “In those situations, I will downgrade the activity so that he can have a little success and then work our way back to the original activity for him to try again. I always know that he is capable, but because of his body awareness and motor planning difficulties, he would give up on an activity when it got too difficult. Recognizing how to overcome that, as well as the work his parents have put into this during the telehealth sessions and the follow through they complete between sessions, are big reasons for his success.”
Kelly summarized the experience best, “He was fighting something he has had his entire life and Felicia found a way to help him push past it. It really has been remarkable.”