This course is designed for all summer camp staff who work with neurodiverse campers.

It can be purchased for individual learning only. If you wish to show or excerpt a recording of this class for group or staff training, please reach out to Mike Fogel to license the material and to make arrangements.

Participants will learn the "H" in Mike Fogel's A.R.C.H. social training & support program. A.R.C.H. is a proprietary method developed by Mike over more than two decades in his social skills therapy programs, The Art of Friendship Social-Coping Program and Camp Pegasus. It's designed to promote social skills development in a loving manner -  without shaming or blaming the ND child for the social faux pas they make. 

A.R.C.H. provides positive reinforcement, offers compassionate social coaching, and provides opportunities for self-regulation for campers. You can learn about these ingredients of best-practice social skills training and support in the webinars posted on the Art of Friendship Social Skills website.

This course will provide you with specialized knowledge and practical tools to support neurodiverse campers effectively. 

In this class, we cover the "messy" feelings of frustration and anger that can crop up in any interaction or relationship. Mike always says, "Ya can't do social if you're freaking out", so campers and staff need to have coping skills on board to stay calm enough to productively engage with each other - and contingency plans for neurodiverse campers who may have a harder time keeping emotionally regulated than their neurotypical peers.

Meltdowns and shut-downs are the worst part of everyone’s day. Frustration and anger are normal feelings, but when they are acted out, they can be disruptive, hurtful, and harmful to the group’s safety and cohesion. Tragically, they also cause feelings of shame, rejection, and incompetence in the child who loses control. Meltdowns and shutdowns are a devastating emotional storm inside the camper usually caused by rigid/inflexible thinking and underdeveloped assertiveness, problem-solving, and coping skills. These are all skills that can be developed and camp is the perfect place to learn and practice them!

Did you know there are three levels of frustration that precede meltdowns? Untrained staff can accidentally escalate situations and provoke meltdowns by using a mismatched support strategy for each level of frustration. Let’s prevent unnecessary meltdowns at all costs by teaching your staff a color-coded and numeric framework to understand four levels of frustration and anger - along with precisely what to say to a frustrated camper at each level.  You’ll learn campers’ subtle clues when they simmer beneath the surface. Then, we’ll practice preventative coping language that helps campers calm and decrease the frequency and intensity of meltdowns. Finally, staff will learn and role-play a loving, hands-off, and safe de-escalation plan to use while supporting a melting down camper.