July 29, 2026
Why Your Kid Struggles to Read, Write, or Focus in School | Emily Roper
<p>Struggling to read isn't always about intelligence — and messy handwriting isn't always about carelessness. For a surprising number of kids, the real culprit is a reflex that should have disappeared before their first haircut. In this episode, Emily Roper returns to unpack the Asymmetric Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR) — the invisible thread connecting how your baby moved in the womb to how your 8-year-old holds a pencil today.</p><p><br></p><p>Host Annamarie von Firley sits down with Emily Roper, Neurodevelopmental Delay Therapist, certified Midwife's Assistant, and founder of Early Roots, to unpack how a reflex that's supposed to fade by 3 months old can quietly sabotage a child's academic life for years — and get mislabeled as laziness, defiance, ADHD, or dyslexia along the way.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>What We Cover:</strong> </p><p>• What the ATNR is, and its role in birth, vision, and early hand-eye coordination </p><p>• Why it needs to integrate so early, and the most common reasons it doesn't </p><p>• Crossing midline, and why a retained ATNR makes it so hard </p><p>• How ATNR shapes classroom skills, dominant-hand development, and bilateral coordination </p><p>• Why handwriting, copying from the board, and written expression are so often affected </p><p>• The real overlap between dyslexia, ADHD, and a retained ATNR </p><p>• What's really happening underneath homework battles and meltdowns </p><p>• Why bike riding, swimming, and ball sports are often affected too </p><p>• A simple way to check for a retained ATNR at home </p><p>• Why this so often gets missed, even after years of tutoring or therapy </p><p>• What the integration process looks like, and how soon parents see changes </p><p>• Who to reach out to first if this sounds familiar</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Time Stamps:</strong> </p><p>00:00 What is the ATNR reflex? </p><p>02:53 ATNR's role in birth and delivery </p><p>03:35 ATNR and eye development </p><p>07:50 Why ATNR must integrate by 3 months </p><p>09:53 Common reasons ATNR doesn't integrate </p><p>12:05 ATNR's link to reading level </p><p>14:24 Crossing midline & retained ATNR </p><p>17:40 ATNR and dominant-hand development </p><p>21:00 Helping a child who skips words reading </p><p>25:53 Handwriting as a sign of retained ATNR </p><p>30:02 Why writing is harder than speaking </p><p>31:00 Dyslexia vs. retained ATNR </p><p>34:58 "ADHD" behavior vs. retained ATNR </p><p>37:40 What's behind homework battles </p><p>40:14 Biking, swimming & ball sports struggles </p><p>43:47 Checking for retained ATNR at home </p><p>45:14 Why retained ATNR gets missed </p><p>46:37 What integration looks like </p><p>48:52 Who to reach out to for help</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Resources:</strong> </p><p>Book: Reflexes, Learning, & Behavior by Sally Goddard Blythe </p><p>Institute of Neuro-Physiological Psychology: https://www.inpp.org.uk</p><p><br></p><p><strong>About Emily Roper:</strong> </p><p>Neuro-Developmental Delay Therapist, certified Midwife's Assistant, and founder of Early Roots. Emily has backgrounds in psychology, midwifery, and neurodevelopmental delay, and has spent over a decade supporting children with ADHD, autism, anxiety, dyslexia, sensory challenges, and other developmental difficulties. </p><p>instagram.com/earlyroots </p><p>facebook.com/earlyroots</p><p><br></p><p><strong>About Annamarie von Firley:</strong> </p><p>After 20 years running her fashion house, reVamp, Annamarie returned to her toy design roots and founded Adventuretown Toy Emporium in 2016.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>About Fledglings' Flight:</strong> </p><p>Play-based exercises for children birth to age 3, supporting cognitive, motor, and social-emotional development, with a monthly exercise library and milestone tracking in our app.</p><p>Follow us: </p><p>FledglingsFlight.com </p><p>app.FledglingsFlight.com </p><p>Instagram/TikTok/Facebook: @fledglingsflight </p><p>LinkedIn: fledglings-flight</p><p><br></p><p>Music: Purple Planet Music</p>
