Occupational therapists use evidence-based research to promote effective interventions addressing client factors such as sensory, body, neuromusculoskeletal and movement-related functions directly involved in occupational performance. The emergence of Continuing Education Units (CEUs) and discussions in the therapeutic community have encouraged the implementation of reflex integration therapy to treat neurologically involved children. These studies promote integration therapy with reported improvement in neurological function in children with cerebral palsy (CP), Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and other neurological dysfunctions. Integration therapy consists of implementing exercises that provoke a specific sensory stimulus, aiming to break reflex-driven muscle patterns. Watson reports that post primitive reflex integration therapy, there is a notably more typical motor response pattern from the child. Increased motor response patterns result from this intervention creating a more efficient neurological pathway for physical and cognitive function. By presenting integration therapy studies this paper will address clinical implications for occupational performance in neurologically involved children. This manuscript aims to assess the existing literature and report on the efficiency of primitive reflex integration therapy in relation to occupational performance.
