Improvements in Stability Scores and Attenuation of Primitive Reflexes after Neurological Rehabilitation for an 11-year-old Female Patient with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Tourette's Syndrome

Presentation: A 11-year-old female patient presented to Plasticity Brain Centers for evaluation and treatment of symptoms relating to her previously diagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with a co-morbidity of Tourette's Syndrome.

Findings: Upon intake examination, the following primitive reflexes were found to be present: Moro Response and Symmetrical Tonic Neck Response (STNR). A Comprehensive Assessment of Postural Systems (CAPS®) (Pagnacco 2014) was performed assessing balance and stability, on a solid and foamed surface, with eyes opened and closed with head in multiple positions. The average stability score was 24.373%.

Methods: A 5-day, multi-modal program of neurological exercises was administered in 10 one-hour treatment sessions (Carrick 2017). Each session consisted of repetitive peripheral somatosensory stimuli, neuromuscular reeducation exercises (Antonucci 2016), vestibular rehabilitation exercises, orthoptic exercises, and off-vertical axis rotation (Gdowski 1999) utilizing a multi-axis rotational chair (MARC).

Outcome: Upon exit examination it was found that the following primitive reflexes were attenuated: Moro Response and STNR. Stability scores improved, with the average stability score of 64.091% (+162.96%).

Conclusion: The authors suggest further investigation into multi-modal, intensive approaches to increase stability scores and attenuate primitive reflexes in patients with ASD with the co-morbidity of Tourette's Syndrome.

References:

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