Alert Program® – How Does Your Engine Run?®
is a program for improving self-regulation that was developed by Occupational Therapists, Mary Sue Williams and Sherry Shellenburger. Children learn and perform best when they are at their optimal level of attention and organization appropriate to a task (i.e. level of alertness) and are able to adapt to the changing demands of their environment. The Alert Program, which can be used with individuals or groups, was designed to develop an awareness of one’s level of alertness and to develop appropriate strategies for self-regulation in order to be able to adapt to the demands of a task and perform at ones best.
When appropriate, our trained occupational therapists at PDC-Atlanta use the Alert Program® during occupational therapy sessions with children that can benefit from the program to help them recognize when their body’s “engine” feels too high, too low, or just right. By providing the appropriate strategies to bring their “engine” from too high or too low to the optimal state of Just Right, children become more focused, have improved attention, more control over their body, and can perform at their best. This is called regulation. The goal, over time, is to teach children how to become independent in regulating their body and energy level whether in OT, at school, at home, or at an event. By using the Alert Program® as part of occupational therapy treatment and involving parents in the process, children become better at self regulation and are more consistently regulated than they were prior to starting therapy.