XXVII INTERNATIONAL INPP CONFERENCE IN NEURODEVELOPMENT
Chester UK . October 18th and 19th 2025
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Sally Goddard Blythe
History, development and future of the INPP method
Sally Goddard Blythe MSc, is International Director of the Institute for Neuro-physiological Psychology and author of eight books on the relationship between physical development, learning and emotional regulation.
Over thirty-seven years of private practise she has specialised in the assessment and supervision of aspects of children’s physical development using the INPP method and developed standard professional training protocols in the INPP method which are now used in 14 countries throughout the world.
She developed The INPP Developmental Screening Test and School Intervention Programme with a view to making aspects of the method accessible to teachers and children in schools in any part of the world irrespective of financial status.
Her presentation will focus on the history of the development of the INPP method, evidence-based research and her vision for the method in the future.
Ewa Gieysztor
Neuromotor status - implications for children's cognitive, social and motor skills
Ewa Gieysztor, PhD in Physiotherapy, is developing her research at Wroclaw Medical University, Poland. She combines her work as professor and therapist with the research at the university, being first author and co-author of various articles focused on the primitive reflexes.
Maria Matuszkiewicz
How neuromotor status is linked to anxiety in children and adults
Maria Matuszkiewicz, PhD in Psychology, was the first to defend her PhD thesis on reflexes at SWPS University in Warsaw. For many years, she has combined her work as an INPP therapist with research on the importance of reflexes in children and adults. She conducted a large study on the impact of reflexes on literacy and speech development. During the conference, Maria will present her findings on how neuromotor conditions are linked to anxiety in children and adults.
Anja Hollowell
The importance of genetics for understanding infant development
Anja Hollowell is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Surrey. Her PhD investigated genetic influences on infant temperament traits and how these early behavioural traits have genetic links to outcomes in later life.
She completed her undergraduate studies in Natural Sciences at Lancaster University, and then a Masters in Cognitive Neurosciences and Neuropsychology at Birkbeck, University of London. Between her Master’s and PhD, Anja worked at the McPin Foundation, a mental health research charity that works to ensure that people with lived experience play a central role in shaping mental health research.
Anja’s PhD work was part of the Genetics of Early Milestones and Skills (GEMS) project, run by Professor Angelica Ronald. GEMS is an ongoing multi-disciplinary collaboration which aims to investigate the common genetic architecture of the infant neurodevelopment.
Mikhail Lazarev
Sonatal Pedagogy: Harmonizing Physical and Mental Development in Infancy
Dr. Mikhail Lazarev is a pediatrician, Doctor of Medical Sciences and Professor of the International Academy of Sciences and Arts. He also holds a PhD in Psychology and is a full member of the Academy of Pedagogical and Social Sciences.
He is the head of Moscow Sonatal Center and the founder of prenatal education in Russia, and authored Sonatal Pedagogy – a musical system for harmonizing the development of a child that is used before and after birth.
Since 1983, about 100 thousand children have passed through the Sonatal method in prenatal, early years, preschool and school ages in Russia and abroad. Studies have been proven that the Sonatal method can have an impact on motherhood style, the course of pregnancy and lactation.
Dr Lazarev will share how this prenatal musical experience affects not only pregnancy but also the health, motor and speech development, as well as artistic and musical abilities of the child.
Bent Peder Holbech
Music's Potential to Shape the Brain
Bent Peder Holbech, born in Ringe in 1947, is a celebrated music educator and composer based in Bornholm. Known for his jazz/rock influenced choral works, such as “Missa Brevis Rhythmica,” he has significantly contributed to both music education and church music. Holbech’s collaboration with Kjeld Vagn Johansen on music therapy for dyslexics, with the globally used “Waves,” highlights his innovative spirit. Beyond education, his compositions for theatre and television underscore a dynamic career dedicated to exploring music’s impact on neurodevelopment.
Sônia Padovan Catenne
Theoretical Basis of the Padovan Method
Sônia Padovan Catenne, MD, specialized in neuropsychology, child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy. She is International Director of the Padovan Method for Neurofunctional Reorganization, and responsible for the training, supervision and certification of authorized Padovan therapists in Central and South America, Canada, Europe, Africa and India.
She has over 30 years of clinical experience utilizing the Padovan method to treat different CNS disorders and syndromes (CP, autism, Down Syndrome, dyslexia, TDAH, etc). The Padovan Method was originally developed in 1972 by Beatriz Padovan, Brazilian speech therapist and teacher who devoted her life to helping children in the maturation of the CNS through the recapitulation of the developmental motor stages and the oral functions.
She will share the theoretical basis of the Padovan method, as well as the clinical results obtained in the treatment of the various disorders.
Stefano Frediani
Neuromotor Immaturity and its Relationship to Form and Function in the Orofacial Field
Dr. Stefano Frediani is an expert in Clinical Posturology and Physiological Regulation Medicine, as well as a Doctor of Medicine and Surgery (MD), Dentist (DDS), and Osteopath (DOM). He is a professor in the master’s degree department in clinical posturology at the University of Pisa, and he teaches at various osteopathy schools in Italy and abroad. Dr. Frediani is also a past President of the Italian Association of Orofacial Functionalists. He has been a guest speaker at many courses and conferences.
For 40 years Dr. Frediani has been working on the interrelationships between dysfunctions of the orofacial sphere, with the related sensory, motor and cognitive aspects, and the global postural attitude, motor, perception and cognitive abilities, applying a clinical model called Orofacial Morpho-Functional Harmonization. Orofacial Morpho-Functional Harmonization has among its fundamental aspects the evaluation and remodulation of primitive and postural reflexes, using both stimulation programs (i.e. INPP) and specific intraoral stimulations including intraoral appliances.
Dr. Frediani is a Licentiate of INPP Italy.
Vicente A. Domingo Sanz
When your eyes depend on your body more than you think
Vicente A. Domingo Sanz is a Social Educator and MSc in Experimental and Clinical Neuroscience from the University of Murcia, Spain. He works at the Montrull Advanced Optometry Center (Valencia) which specializes in the treatment of congenital, acquired or traumatic vision alterations in patients from infants to the elderly.
His field of research focuses on the relationship between the persistence of primitive reflexes and the different alterations of oculomotor skills such as eye tracking and saccadic movements. He also studies how retained primitive reflexes can affect fusional and accommodative abilities, and consequently stereopsis and depth perception.
Vicente will present his latest published research which highlights a significant link between Primitive Reflexes, fixation values and saccadic movements.
Vicente Domingo-Montrull
How the presence of primitive reflexes, although subtle, slow down visual therapy in adults
Vicente Domingo-Montrull is an optician-optometrist specializing in behavioral
visual therapy. He holds a Master’s degree in Visual Therapy from the COI-Centro de
Optometría Internacional and from Sanet-Vergara, with advanced specialization in
clinical optometry, therapy, and visual rehabilitation. He frequently conducts clinical
stays in the US and is co-director of Centro Optométrico Montrull.
His work focuses on both young children and adults, although he spends more time
understanding and treating the latter group, as the presence of various variables,
including PRs, clearly interfere with the final outcome of visual therapy.
In his presentation, Vicente Jr. will explain why the presence of PRs during the visual
therapy phase does matter, even if these reflexes are subtle, how to work with them,
and which ones are most common.
Harold Levinson
Using Vestibular-Cerebellar Theory to Understand Dyslexia
Dr. Harold N. Levinson, MD, is a distinguished neuropsychiatrist and medical pioneer whose work fundamentally reshaped the clinical understanding of dyslexia and related learning disabilities. His academic journey has laid a firm foundation for a career marked by groundbreaking research and controversial yet influential treatment models.
In the 1970s, Levinson introduced a revolutionary theory suggesting that dyslexia and many related conditions stemmed not from brain-language centres, but from dysfunctions in the cerebellar-vestibular system.
Dr. Levinson founded the Levinson Medical Center for Learning Disabilities, where he applied his model to thousands of patients. His clinic became known for using anti-motion sickness medications to reduce dyslexic and attentional symptoms. His work extended beyond dyslexia to include ADHD, phobias, anxiety disorders, and mood dysregulation, which he viewed as neurologically interrelated phenomena.
Over the course of his career, Levinson has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and authored several influential books.
Dr. Harold Levinson’s theory and treatment of learning disabilities represent a bold, interdisciplinary synthesis of psychiatry, neurology, otology, and education.
Michelle Evans
INPP Programme Contribution to a Child’s Rehabilitation from Brain Tumour Treatment: A Story of Success
In September 2008, when Michelle Evans was 10 years old, she was diagnosed with two aggressive brain tumours. Then, after a successful brain surgery, she was infected with meningitis which resulted in full paralysis, and her needing to relearn everything.
While in rehabilitation at the Pediatric Center Nº II, Semmelweis University in Budapest, she was introduced to Magdalena Zweegman, INPP National Principal in Hungary, who had been implementing an adapted INPP programme for 10 years on many children from the hospital to support the rehabilitation of balance, motor, coordination and speech problems, which had emerged as consequences of their brain tumour, and the associated operations and heavy treatments.
With lots of help from professionals, but especially from her mother, she finished primary school, secondary school, a BA and now is heading towards a MA in Translation and Interpretation at Swansea University this September.
Michelle will share her experience of conquering her own self again.
Leanne Seniloli
Study of a Neuromotor Movement Programme with 4-year-Olds
Leanne Seniloli, (B.Tchg (ECE), M.Phil (honours), NDT (INPP)) is the founder of Without Limits Learning and a Senior Lecturer at Manukau Institute of Technology in New Zealand. She has over 20 years’ experience working in education ranging from early childhood to individual therapy, teacher training and is currently lecturing on early childhood education.
She is the author of ‘Simply L.O.V.E: Four easy strategies to unlock your child’s mind and heart’ along with multiple other articles. Most recently she has conducted research on the feasibility and acceptability of a neuromotor movement programme in an early childhood centre. Leanne will present initial findings from this research and potential links between the INPP screening questionnaire, and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire used to assess children’s behaviour.
Regina Salvetti & Elaine Santos
Integration between INPP and Neuropsychopedagogical Approaches in Serving Children in Shelters
Regina Salvetti.
Graduated with degrees in Biology, Education as well as additional certification in Waldorf Education, Extra Lesson, and INPP. She completed postgraduate studies in Neuropsychopedagogy and Psychomotricity. Regina is the Director of INPP Brazil.
Prof. Elaine Santos
Neuropsychopedagogue, Master’s degree holder, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Neuroscience and Behavior (NEC) at the Institute of Psychology, University of São Paulo (USP). She is a faculty member and part of the research group LIEENp – Laboratory of Educational Innovations and Neuropsychopedagogical Studies at CENSUPEG College. Professor Santos is coordinator of the Neuropsychopedagogy Project for the São Paulo City Hall through the NGO Casa da Criança de Santo Amaro.
Regina and Elaine will present a research project that is ongoing in São Paulo orphanages, utilizing coordinated psychopedagogical techniques and the INPP neuromotor development program.
Marta Not Monegal
Research on the School-Based INPP Programme: It's Effects on Primitive Reflexes, Motor Abilities and Risk Index for Dyslexia
Marta Not Monegal is a physiotherapist and psychologist specialised in
neurorehabilitation and neuromotor development. She combines her academic work as
a lecturer at the Faculty of Physiotherapy of Manresa, UVic-UCC (Spain), with her
clinical practice as a physiotherapist and director of the SIRN Manresa center.
In her PhD research, Marta is studying the effects of a school-based INPP motor
programme on primitive reflexes, several neuromotor skills (balance, fine motor
coordination, and oculomotor control), and the risk of dyslexia. Marta will present some
of her findings from this study, which form part of her ongoing doctoral thesis.