Did you know self-regulation is the basis for allowing children to dress themselves, learn to write their name, or learn good table manners? The Alert Program® was created by occupational therapists, Mary Sue Williams and Sherry Shellenberger. The program was initially developed to teach children how to change how alert they feel and to teach adults how to support learning, attending, and positive behaviors; By using an engine analogy, children learn, “your body is like a car engine, sometimes it runs on high, sometimes it runs on low, and sometimes it runs just right.” But one metaphor does not fit all, so as the program developed over the decades, now everyone of any age can benefit from developing their own metaphor or using simple words such as, “high alert, low alert, or just right” to describe their inner experience of self-regulation (the ability to change how alert one feels throughout the day). <br /> <br />The Alert Program®, is the number one self-regulation program online making it easy to teach parents, teachers, and therapists how to choose appropriate strategies and activities so children’s (and adult) engines are running “just right.” By reading the Alert Program® books or by taking the online course, parents can learn more about how to help children do heavy work activities such as pushing, pulling, tugging, towing, and/or carrying heavy objects. <br /> <br />Over 20,000 parents, teachers, therapists, and administrators have been trained in using the Alert Program® world-wide since 1990. Thousands upon thousands more, who have not attended a training, have read the books, sung songs, or played games created by Williams and Shellenberger to support children’s self-regulation. In one of many research projects, the Alert Program® was found to be effective in helping children to “self-regulate, change tasks, organize themselves, cope with sensory challenges, and focus on tasks in the classroom.” Parents will be happy to learn that administrators are understanding the importance of self-regulation and implementing the Alert Program® school-wide and district-wide. <br /> <br />Visit https://www.alertprogram.com/ to learn more information about the Alert Program®, the number one self-regulation program online.
