Alert Program
(How Does Your Engine Run)
The Alert Program was developed by occupational therapists, Sherry Shellenberger and Mary Sue Williams, to teach children self-regulation skills.It begins by building awareness of and vocabulary to describe levels of alertness using a car engine analogy. Within this approach, children are then encouraged to explore self-regulation tools systematically within each of the senses: movement, touch, vision, hearing, and oral. The personalized sensory exploration portion of this program allows children to identify for themselves the most beneficial and preferred regulatory tools. Once established, this toolbox is used by the child to achieve the most appropriate level of alertness for each situation they participate in. For more information and resources from the authors, visit https://www.alertprogram.com/index.php.