The Method

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Facial motor reflexes first appear in infancy and remain active throughout life, supporting a broad range of needs essential to:

Upper limb reflexes begin development in the womb and are among the first reflexes to actively engage after birth, first to protect us from harm, and second (once security is ensured) to allow active exploration of the outside world. As upper limb motor reflexes engage and mature, they form the foundation for the development of learned manual skills. Once basic manual skills become automatic, advanced skills begin to emerge and a child’s movement repertoire expands and advances to include gross motor skills, fine motor coordination, and the motor planning ability necessary to productively function in the world. Manual skills are not the only developmental abilities dependant upon upper limb reflex integration. The visual and auditory systems as well as verbal, written, and general communication related abilities all depend on adequate upper limb reflex integration. Fine motor coordination systems, including the hands-eyes, hands-auditory, and hands-articulation systems, link fine motor coordination to visual, auditory, and vocal decoding, allowing communication to develop from sounds, to words, to conversations, to reading, to writing, to comprehension and more. MNRI Upper Limb and Manual Skill Program techniques target reflexes and the underlying neuro-structural system to engage and improve manual, gross, or fine motor skill function and speech delays. Many professionals subject to fatigue or upper limb injury often use the upper limb and manual skill techniques as a stress release program. Summarized below are the reflexes and tactile/neuro-structural areas addressed by the MNRI Upper Limb Program techniques: