Tag Archives: self-regulation

Self-regulation includes managing emotions, sensory input, and behavior. Techniques and tools help children maintain focus and calmness, supporting learning readiness in structured environments.

the alert seat a large round ball inside a metal base with wheels for sitting

Flexible Seating Spotlight: AlertSeats

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Could your class or sensory room benefit from flexible seating that will absorb user energy, enhance posture, encourage time on task, and moderate repetitive motion, all with a positive sensory input?  If you’ve just answered ”Yes” then the AlertSeats® are right for you.

Therapro has them. Available is five sizes, AlertSeats® will fit every one of your students. Choose from 5 stock sizes to provide comfortable active movement seating for pre-K students to the tallest teens or adults.

AlertSeats® have seated thousands of active learners in hundreds of schools and therapy settings throughout the US and Canada since 2009.  Made in the US, they offer guaranteed durability, versatility and comfort in a proven design.

Just three sturdy components make up the AlertSeat — Base, Ball and Cover.  They ship compactly and assembly easily with adjustable firmness.

5 Sizes of the Flexible Seating option, the AlertSeats® shown with royal blue covers – Small, Small/Medium, Medium, Large, and XL.
5 Sizes of AlertSeats® shown with royal blue covers – Small, Small/Medium, Medium, Large, and XL.
AlertSeats® in the classroom as a Flexible Seating option, with school colors, size large shown.
AlertSeats® in the classroom with school colors, size large shown.

Here’s what teachers and therapists using AlertSeat are saying:

“I absolutely love your (AlertSeat) ball chairs, and have been using them in my classroom for over 6 years.” 

Jessica- New Hampshire elementary school.

“Students seem to flourish with the use of the (Alert)seats, as they are better able to focus on the work at hand.”

Indiana Life Skills teacher, students ages 7 to 12

  “We’re all about data. We’ve seen results with AlertSeats in students with a range of disabilities” 

Kate, a Pennsylvania large district school-based OT

AlertSeats® steel bases feature six or eight legs and rubber feet.  They’re warranted for 10 years.  Every assembled AlertSeats® will support up to 300 lbs. Bases nest for efficient shipping and storage, and are color matched by size.  Color coded interior balls are correctly positioned inside their cover before shipment, with a manual pump included and full instructions.

AlertSeat® covers, with double zipper pulls, go on and off easily, and include strong Velcro attaching straps and a handle for a totally secure and stable but readily removable attachment to their base.  Covers are sewn from an abrasion resistant laminated woven nylon fabric that is cold water washable and stain resistant.

Interior balls are heavy duty ABS molded to fit correctly and adjustable to provide the level of seating comfort that best suits each student.  Ball covers and balls are warranted for 2 years in classroom service.

Optional removable mobility dollies with lockable swivel casters can be added to any AlertSeat® in all sizes except the smallest.

Flexible Seating example, the AlertSeat® showing handles that allow easy movement
AlertSeat® handles allow easy movement
AlertSeat® shown on its optional removable mobility dolly with lockable swivel casters
AlertSeat® shown on its optional removable mobility dolly with lockable swivel casters.
AlertSeat® Velcro straps safely secure the base, ball and cover as one comfortable and stable seat

AlertSeat® Velcro straps safely secure the base, ball and cover as one comfortable and stable seat

AlertSeats® in use will never roll around the room or create a hazard. They can easily be placed on top of the desk to facilitate after school cleaning.  Other great features of AlertSeats® include:

  • No flimsy plastic parts or bolted connections to crack or fail in service.  
  • Safety and total stability combined with stimulating, energy absorbing motion define AlertSeats® wherever they are in use.

Put a correctly sized AlertSeat® into your classroom, therapy or sensory room soon. 

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Guest Author: Howard Newman. Howard Newman of Newman Adaptive, introduced his unique concept of fitness and nutrition in the work place in 1991. Howard is the engineer of AlertSeat and AlertDesk.

How to Build a Sensory Room at Home, Tips from the Experts

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Porch, the home services platform, recently reached out to Therapro for help with their latest article, How to Build a Sensory Room at Home, Tips from the Experts. The question needing an answer was, what are the best tactile sensory tools to include in home sensory rooms? Therapro’s team of experts had a lot to say on this topic! Read on to see what Therapro shared and be sure to check out the full article.

Tactile sensory tools offer a rewarding experience. There are many options to choose from. Therapro’s top picks include:

Assortment of tactile sensory tools for home sensory room

Fidgets:  Fidgets are small, portable and versatile tactile sensory tools that are a great addition to home sensory rooms. Fidgets can offer calming or alerting input depending on their characteristics.  To help users better decide which fidget is best for them, the team of occupational therapists at Therapro has put together a free handy guide, Find Your Fidget that is available for download at therapro.com! Pro tip: Fidgets are also a great transition object to help with the move into and out of the sensory space! 

Happy senso tactile sensory gel in a bottle and sensory gel in the palm of two hands

Happy Senso: Happy Senso is a sensory gel that offers a unique multisensory experience. It can be sprayed directly into the palms of the hands or on a flat surface (like a table). Squish, press, and slide hands along the cool gel and listen to the crackling and popping sounds it makes.  It is available in four different scents and colors for an enhanced sensory experience.  

Green gel filled tactile sensory tool with fingers pushing small black chips inside the gel pad through a maze

Gel Activity Pads: Gel pads are exactly what they sound like, gel-filled pads that can be pressed and squished with the hands, fingers, or even feet!  Available in four different styles, activity ideas are endless; play games (like tic tac toe) or simply enjoy the combined visual and tactile sensory experience. As an added bonus, these gel pads offer slight weight and so can double as a weighted lap pad! 

Theraputty Microwavable Exercise Putty:  Exercise putty is a great fidget option that can offer a calming/ grounding experience to users.  Theraputty Microwavable Exercise Putty is a unique putty that is microwavable, allowing users to experience a calming warmth sensation while they knead, roll, or squish the putty. 

The system calm strips, five rectangular strips with dark blue background and the planets arranged in a line

Calm Strips: Calm Strips are textured sensory stickers with a special reusable adhesive that are designed to be picked, touched, scratched, and peeled over and over again.  These tactile sensory tools are a perfect addition to home sensory rooms. They can be adhered to any surface to add an additional tactile sensory experience and help regulate restless energy.  

When it comes to building your sensory space, Therapro is the resource for families and professionals. Be sure to check out all of Therapro’s sensory resources at therapro.com!

Getting Into the Learning Zone with Sensory Tools!

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The “optimal” zone of regulation is crucial during learning activities. The optimal learning zone is characterized by the just right amount of  attention, focus and processing speed to allow learning to take place. Outside of this optimal zone are two zones that are characterized by decreased or heightened levels of arousal.  The appropriate use of sensory tools and strategies may help students maintain an optimal state of alertness during learning activities.  

The low arousal zone is characterized by low energy levels and decreased alertness. This zone may be optimal when we are winding down from a long day but it is not a great zone to be in when learning needs to take place! In the learning environment this state of decreased alertness can make concentration and processing difficult.

The high arousal zone is characterized by increased levels of alertness. Heightened states of alertness are optimal during times of real or perceived danger but is not optimal for learning. In a learning environment this heightened state of arousal will lead to distractions and difficulty with focus.  

Schkidules visual schedule display

Posted Schedules.  Posting the daily schedule can have a tremendous impact on the student with an over-responsive sensory system.  Posting the schedule allows the student to anticipate what is coming up next and prepare their systems for the sensory experiences that the next event will bring. This helps the student to attend and focus rather than be distracted by the anticipation of what will be happening next. The simplest solution is to write the daily schedule on the board!  For early or nonreaders, a visual schedule (like Schkidules) may be easier to understand.  

Lighting:  Harsh glare and the flicker from fluorescent lights can be distracting for some students. When possible, turning off overhead lights and relying on natural lighting is a great solution.  However, natural lighting is not always available or optimal; in those cases light filters offer a great way to reduce the harsh glare emitted from some types of overhead lighting! 

Patterned Fluorescent Light Filter; a great sensory tools for getting in the learning zone.
Low Set Behind the Head Earmuff; a great sensory tools for getting in the learning zone.

Noise Reduction. Classrooms can get noisy! The typically responding sensory system may be able to handle the fluctuations in noise levels with expected reactions like covering the ears.  For the student with the over responsive system the rise in noise level (or the anticipation of a rise in noise level) may be distracting or be a source of anxiety.  Rugs and curtains can help to absorb some noise. Chair Socks are a great option for chair legs; they help to minimize the sounds created by chairs moving across the floor.  Access to noise-cancelling headphones may be another option for students with significant sound sensitivity.  

Alternative Seating.  Levels of regulation fluctuate throughout the day.  For students who are in a state of low arousal, movement is a great way to bring the system back into a more  optimal state.  Alternative seating allows for movement input while still engaging in the learning activity. Alternative seating options can range from the subtle input that comes from a textured seat cushion or air filled wedge to the more intense input received from sitting on a stool or ball chair.  Another option is to not sit at all and use a standing desk instead! 

Fidgets.  There are many fidget options available. Fidgets can bring arousal levels up or provide input that is calming all depending on the specific characteristics of the fidget.  Fidgets that provide light touch input (like the Tactile Tiger) tend to help bring arousal levels up while fidgets that provide deep pressure or are resistive in nature ( like the Thera-band hand exerciser) can help calm an over responsive sensory system.  For more information on fidget check out Therapro’s Find Your Fidget Handy Guide! 

Access to the right sensory tools in the learning environment can make a significant difference in a student’s ability to learn and attend.