FREE Neurodiversity Support Seminars for Parents and Professionals in Philadelphia, PA, and Surrounding Suburbs
Grab a coffee, bring your curiosity, and leave with tools you can use today!
Led by Mike Fogel, these free sessions support parents, educators, and professionals working with neurodivergent kids. Join live in-person or virtually, or watch the webinar recording later. Either way, you’ll leave feeling more confident!
If you’re a grown-up supporting neurodivergent kids, you belong here.
Getting help for your neurodivergent child or student shouldn’t feel so hard.
These free neurodiversity support seminars are built for parents, educators, and professionals who support the emotional well-being and social development of neurodivergent children with autism, ADHD, and learning differences.
If you’re in a classroom, in a clinic, at a kitchen table, or in a carpool line thinking, “I want to help, but I’m not sure what actually works,” come on in. You’re our people.
At Child and Family Art Therapy Centers in Philadelphia, PA and its suburbs, our Founder, Mike Fogel, leads this free lunch-and-learn series packed with practical, repeatable strategies you can use right away.
Our goal is simple: help your child feel calmer, more confident, and more successful in real-life social moments.
If you’re here, there’s a good chance at least one of these feels familiar:
- You’re tired from worrying, and you’re not sure what actually helps
- You and your partner, co-parent, or team disagree on the “right” response
- You feel judged when meltdowns, shutdowns, or school struggles show up
- You’ve been handed complicated plans and just want simple next steps
- You’re frustrated that “typical” strategies don’t work for your neurodivergent kid, student, or client
You’re not failing. You’re missing a map. Mike's gift is to help you draw that map, then hands you simple, practical tools that you can use right away!
The Art of Friendship: Free Neurodiversity Support Seminars | Philadelphia, PA
Our Solution
The Art of Friendship: FREE Neurodiversity Support Seminars equip parents and professionals with repeatable, real-world strategies that support emotional wellness and foster social development for children with autism, ADHD, and learning differences.
These are warm, practical, lunch-and-learn style seminars. You’ll learn clear tools, try-on scripts, and social coaching strategies you can use the same day.
The earlier you get a neurodiversity-affirming roadmap, the less you have to rely on trial-and-error. Small support gaps can turn into big stress over time, and we help you catch things early, so your child’s confidence grows, anxiety doesn’t take over, and home and school feel more doable.
With the right coaching and the right language, kids learn the unwritten rules, recover faster from social stumbles, and keep showing up. That’s how you build a calmer home, stronger self-esteem, and better social momentum.
All registrants can attend in-person, virtually, or watch the webinar recording at their convenience.
And yes, it’s free. Really free.
Founder, Executive, & Clinical Director
Child and Family Art Therapy Center
Meet Mike, your trainer, skill-builder, and “wait, that’s why?!” guy!
Parents call him Mike. Kids fondly call him Mr. Mike and he’s proudly kept that title for 30 years.
Mike is a licensed professional counselor, and author. Since 2000, he has specialized in supporting neurodivergent children with autism, ADHD, and learning differences; long before neurodiversity-affirming care became a widely used phrase.
Inspired by his earliest clients, Mike went on to create multiple award-winning programs, including the Art of Friendship Social-Coping Program®, Child and Family Art Therapy Center, Camp Pegasus, and the BetterWorld Accessible Art Therapy Program. He is also the author of The Social-Emotional Guidebook: Motivate Your Child to Master Social & Emotional Coping Skills, where he shares his holistic, strength-based approach to social and emotional growth.
He takes complex social-emotional science and turns it into clear, practical, memorable tools that parents, educators, and professionals can actually use the very next day.
If you asked Mike what he cares about most, it’s this: helping neurodivergent children feel understood, confident, and capable, and equipping the grown-ups around them with the clarity and courage to support them well.
The Art of Friendship: Free Neurodiversity Support Seminars | Philadelphia, PA
The Art of Friendship:
Free Neurodiversity Support Seminar Format & Schedule
Each seminar is a monthly 60-minute session filled with easy support strategies and social coaching conversations that can transform the life of your child, family, or classroom.
When you register, you get:
Opportunities for personal Q and A if you attend live
A recording of the seminar after it concludes
The PowerPoint slides, so you can review and practice the tools at your own pace
Think of it as one hour of clarity, plus a month of practice support.
How to access the program:
Register for a free neurodiversity support seminar
Attend it live or watch the recording at your convenience
Practice the skills with your child for the next month, and voila, you’re a stronger neurodiversity advocate and social skills coach
To register, click the registration link near each seminar. We’ll send you reminders and the links as the presentation approaches.
Seminar topics:
1. Kind Words, Big Impact: How Positive Feedback Boosts Acceptance and Social Learning in Neurodiverse Children
If your child is stuck in discouraging negative feedback loops, this is your reset. Learn how Targeted Positive Reflection creates acceptance, sparks positive learning cycles, motivates practice, avoids power struggles, builds self-awareness, supports self-advocacy, and strengthens relationships. You’ll leave with a repeatable language script, plus an easy way to layer in a simple reward system, if needed.
2. Big Feelings and Social Stumbles: A Compassionate Approach to Coaching Neurodiverse Kids
Neurodivergent kids are often corrected for behaviors that aren’t motivated by bad intentions. This seminar teaches you how to coach with questions, not corrections. You’ll learn problem-solving scripts that honor your child’s uniqueness, build insight into social expectations, and support coping with feelings. Gentle coaching, real change.
3. Emotional G.P.S.: Guiding Children From Frustration, Anger, and Meltdowns Toward Self-Regulation
Meltdowns often grow out of weak assertiveness, coping, and problem-solving skills. Learn a framework to understand and support four levels of frustration, create a compassionate meltdown safety plan, and use preventative coping language that reduces tantrum intensity and frequency.
4. The Top 7 Social Concepts and Skills Everyone Needs to Succeed in Life
Kids with autism, ADHD, and learning differences often struggle to infer social rules or read nonverbal cues. This seminar shares the Art of Friendship’s core social lessons, plus the support language that keeps them top-of-mind. Your child learns why these skills matter and what’s in it for them.
5. Transform Unacceptable Behavior to Positive Coping and Cooperation with Strategic Rewards, Limits, and Consequences
Rewards and consequences can help kids face challenges and make progress when they’re used correctly. This workshop debunks myths and gives practical strategies that work for smaller struggles and bigger ones, at home and at school. The goal is positive coping and real cooperation.
6. The Personal Power Project: Help Your Child Overcome Anxiety and Stress
Stress and anxiety respond well to CBT, but kids have to practice outside therapy. Learn intuitive caregiver support strategies that build independence, reduce insecurity, and help your child cope powerfully in daily life.
7. Reversing the Downward Spiral: Coping Ideas for Negative Thinking in Mood Challenges and Childhood Depression
Negative thoughts and negative moods feed each other. Learn how the confirmation bias keeps kids downcast, and how to challenge it. You’ll leave with simple CBT-inspired tools you and your child can use today to reverse negative thinking cycles and practice resilient coping.
8. The Personal Power Project, Part Deux: Empowering Skills to Stand Up to Bullies, Teasers, and Impossible Kids
Gentle kids and kids with social challenges can be easy targets. Learn how to teach the difference between bullies and teasers, handle frienemies, identify negative versus positive leaders, and build calm, confident personal power.
9. Conversation Skills for Neurodivergent Youth
Reciprocal conversation can be tricky for tweens and teens. Learn teachable “rules of engagement,” including initiating with question words, using universal conversation bouncers, and building back-and-forth flow. These are learnable skills that support belonging.
10. Cracking the Code: Helping Teens and Tweens Navigate Unstructured Social Settings by Minding the G.A.P.
Lunch, recess, transitions, and waiting can feel socially chaotic. Reframe those “gaps” as Get Attention Positively time, then build a plan with guidelines, play skills, and conversation strategies that lead to better socialization during perilous unstructured situations.
11. How To Choose The Right Summer Camp For Your Neurodivergent Child
Instead of pushing one camp, this seminar teaches you a research process that builds confidence in your choice. Learn how to include your child in selection, ask the right questions, and assess neurodivergent acceptance and supports so summer feels fun, safe, and successful.
Where the seminars are held:
The Art of Friendship: Free Neurodiversity Support Seminar series is offered virtually, and we also offer a limited number of in-person seats for the live presentation at our Center City, Philadelphia, PA office at 1420 Walnut St Suite 1301, Philadelphia, PA 19102.
Come network with Mike in person. We can accommodate 6 to 8 guests who reserve their spots at least three days before the seminar.
The cost
These neurodiversity support seminars are absolutely free for a limited time!
Eventually, they will be part of a paid membership support community, so enjoy them at no cost while they’re still available.
Yes, we’re saying it again because it matters: it’s free.
Open the door to
“we can do it” moments.
Whether it’s support for you, your child, or both, it can be hard to know where to start. Book a free 30-minute consultation to begin.
Neurodiversity Support & Social Skills Groups
Children with autism and ADHD don’t need to be “fixed.” They just need the right space to practice, belong, and shine.
Through the nationally renowned Art of Friendship Social-Coping Program and Camp Pegasus, we help kids build social skills, coping tools, and confidence, Our friendly, success-oriented groups is where strengths are celebrated and friendships grow.
Child and Family Art Therapy Center | Philadelphia, PA
Free Neurodiversity Support Seminars for Parents and Professionals: FAQs
Is there any cost, or are there strings attached?
Nope! These seminars are a gift and a “thank you” to the community, with only the desire to make your life and your child’s life easier and better.
Do you provide continuing education credits for professionals or educators?
These free seminars do not provide CE credits. They are helpful support strategies and social lessons gathered over decades of experience to enhance the support you provide your neurodivergent clients or students.
How do I attend these seminars? Are they in person or virtual?
You can attend in person or virtually. All presentations can be joined virtually live or via the seminar recording we send you. You need to register for the live presentation in order to receive the recording link. Most seminars also have an in-person attendance option (at 1420 Walnut St Suite 1301, Philadelphia, PA 19102) with limited seating, and you can reserve your seat when you register.
Can I watch a recording of the seminars if I can’t attend live?
Absolutely! If you register, you’ll receive the webinar recording link when it is released. We’ll also send you a copy of the PowerPoint slides so you can keep the images as a reference. We hope this helps!
What if I can’t attend every month?
No worries. You don’t have to attend every session. Join us anytime a topic resonates with you.
Free Neurodiversity Support Seminars | Philadelphia, PA
The Difference The Art of Friendship: FREE Neurodiversity Support Seminar Series Can Make
You’ll leave with practical strategies that help you:
- Understand how your neurodivergent child thinks and feels
- Support their unique emotional needs with more confidence
- Reduce meltdowns or shutdowns through smart structure
- Spot patterns so you can prevent blow-ups when possible
- Increase cooperation and decrease arguing and power struggles
- Replace negative feedback loops with motivating language
- Coach social skills in real life, not just “talk about it”
- Help your child make and keep friends
- Support school success with better coping tools
- Teach repair after social miscues with less shame
This is what we mean by Clinical Love.
We don’t just hand you information and wish you luck. We meet you in the real-life moments: the car ride after a tough day, the homework standoff, the birthday party worry, the “I don’t know what to say right now” moments.
Then we roll up our sleeves with you, translate what’s been confusing, and equip you with tools and language that help your child move forward with hope for tomorrow.
Child and Family Art Therapy Center
How To Get Started
When you’re ready to help yourself or your child feel steadier and shine more, we’re ready too.
Here are a few easy ways to begin:
Use the contact form or complete our Individual Therapy Appointment Request Form to book your free 30-minute consultation as the first step.
Call us or send us an email with your questions and we’ll respond within 24 hours.
Send Us a Message
