Palmer Reflex
Most of us will recognise the Palmar reflex, the infant grasp, where a light touch to the newborn’s palm will prompt them to grasp your finger. By the time the child is 6 months old, this reflex should be inhibited, making way for the pincer grip, where an object is held between the thumb and forefinger.
But what if the Palmar reflex is retained? The lack of pincer grip affects the child’s ability to hold a pencil and have an impact on their manual dexterity and fine motor skills. In infancy, the hands and the mouth are directly linked which means that the Palmar reflex is also activated when the infant is nursing/drinking from a bottle. You can see this connection as the infant sucks – the hands will reflexively clench in coordination with the sucking. If the reflex is retained then the connection between hand and mouth movement would fail to dissipate, affecting speech development and may cause involuntary mouth movements when using their hands. It is no wonder that children with a retained Palmar grasp reflex often struggle at school.
Of course, every child is different and not all children will display all symptoms. However, if you do have any concerns that your child may have a retained Palmar grasp reflex then please reach out and we can arrange a free initial consultation.