STNR helps the baby learn to use the two halves of the body, top, and bottom, independent of each other.

• STNR helps to integrate the TLR (Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex). During normal childhood development the STNR:
• Helps the baby attain hands and knees position
• Appears between 6 to 9 months, after the ATNR (Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex) is integrated at 9 to 11 months

Even though the STNR helps the baby attain the hands and knees position, if it is retained, the baby is usually unable to crawl. He might bear walk (hands and feet instead of hands and knees), scoot while sitting, or go directly to walking.

If the baby is able to crawl, it is often an atypical crawl, with elbows locked or feet may be up off the floor. The crawling will be unsynchronized.

The STNR assists in vision training, changing the focus from near to far. If the STNR integrates, vision is trained further, allowing the baby's eyes to cross the midline, and training eye-hand coordination. Babies who have never crawled (possibly retained STNR) often have reading difficulties.

When sitting at a table or desk, when the child with a retained STNR looks down, with his arms bent. This child will appear to be in a slouched position or stooped over, sometimes nearly lying on their desk to complete their work and then extending their arms and tipping back in their chair to copy and look at the board or teacher at the front of the room.

A retained STNR is significantly correlated with ADHD and ADD.

Eye/hand coordination is also affected. Vertical eye tracking is impaired, causing the child with an STNR to have difficulty with ball sports.

Symptoms of a Retained Symmetric Tonic Neck Reflex (STNR):

•  Poor eye-hand coordination
• Messy eater
• Difficulty with sports
• Clumsiness
• Difficulty changing eye focus from near to far, i.e. from blackboard to desk
• Slow to copy from a book or blackboard
• Difficulty learning to swim above water. If the child is able to learn, swimming will be unsynchronized
• ADHD or ADD
• Poor posture while sitting at a table or desk
• Tendency to anchor feet behind chair legs when sitting
• Ape-like walk
• While sitting on the floor, there is a tendency to sit in "W" position
• Either difficulty in holding head upright or head tilts up excessively
• Difficulty recognizing social cues
• Challenges with memorization
• Poor balance
• Poor space and time awareness
• Difficulty aligning numbers for math calculations
• Poor learning ability