Dr. Mary M. Kerr never has been able to say no to her younger brother, Ken Kerr.

So when Mr. Kerr, a Mississippi-based freelance photographer, was sent to New Orleans to cover the damage from Hurricane Katrina, he called his sister to ask her to help the children affected by the disaster.

"I thought, well, you can't let your little brother down," Dr. Kerr said.

Dr. Kerr, of Whitehall, a psychiatrist, is an associate professor of education and child psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Education and Department of Psychiatry. She said her brother noticed people were having trouble helping children with special needs because the adults were "bewildered" by them.

She got busy researching, but found a limited amount of information on helping children with disabilities who have been traumatized. So she started making phone calls.

Her efforts have resulted in Project Reassure, a collaboration between the University of Pittsburgh and the Watson Institute, a nonprofit educational organization in Leet which specializes in teaching children with special needs. The program provides educators and parents with information about coping with the stress of a traumatic experience.

"Stability and structure are very important for children with special needs," said Amy Wild, a communications and development specialist for the Watson Institute. "The sooner they can get back into their routine, the better off they will be."

Project Reassure is not limited to children who have special needs, nor is it only for victims of Hurricane Katrina. It's available to those working with any child who is suffering because of a traumatic situation, including those affected by Hurricane Rita.

"Trauma has its own autograph," Dr. Kerr said, explaining that, although every situation is different, many of the traumatized children's experiences have the same elements.

Activities, communication strategies, worksheets and oral exercises are available through the project's Web site, www.projectreassure.org and e-mail. A donation from Xerox is allowing the organization to mail printed materials.

The information is being gathered by volunteers, including writers, students and educators.

Dr. Kerr said kindergarten pupils were designing pictures to put in the boxes with the printed materials, and that the organization's graphic designer was a high school student.

Ms. Wild said the program would be effective because of the shared educational expertise between the University of Pittsburgh and Watson.

"Working together, we can solicit more expertise and prepare a broader network of people to help children," Ms. Wild said.

Dr. Kerr is also outreach director for the STAR center, a technical assistance facility that has a crisis response center. She has responded to more than 1,000 crises and is working on a book, "School Crisis Prevention and Intervention."

"Those of us who could not get in a car and drive down ... now we are going to be able to provide some psychological help," Dr. Kerr said.

"I think people are finding that they can't think of a more meaningful mission."

For information on Project Reassure, call 412-749-2868. Donations can be mailed to: The Watson Institute, Project Reassure, 301 Camp Meeting Road, Sewickley PA 15143.