START is excited to share that the 2025-2026 Trainings and Training Series schedule and registrations are available on the START website. We invite you to explore the learning opportunities available this year! 

START is excited to welcome back members of the CoP and also welcome new members! START is facilitating the following CoP in 2025-2026: 

We invite you to review the information and meeting dates for each CoP and disseminate this information within your RCN.

CoP Membership: Each RCN has a list of their CoP members in their Google Folder (25-26 CoP Members) This list will be maintained by START and there are additional instructions included in the Google Sheet. 

If you have someone who is interested in joining a CoP (and was not previously a member), please have them submit this form (note: participation in the Coaching CoP and PFA-SBT CoP is by invitation/request only and the FAPE in the LRE CoP is invitation only). 

START sent information and meeting dates to members of each CoP on August 22, 2025. Additional reminders will go out to each CoP in September. Please contact START or your START RCN Representative if you have any questions. 

As we continue to strengthen the EPLI program, important updates are coming for the application process, the EPLI Bootcamp: Essential Foundations modules, and requirements for maintaining EPLI Trainer Status. In addition, START is introducing the EPLI Bootcamp: Early Childhood in the 2025-2026 school year. More information, including EPLI applications, will be available on September 5, 2025.

We appreciate your commitment to high-quality, evidence-based practices and look forward to enriching the EPLI program together! 

Reminder! Enter your Fiscal Agent Information, Report Contact Information, RCN Leadership, and District Representatives on the 25-26 RCN Contacts spreadsheet located in your Google Drive Folder.

START will send RCN update emails to the District Representatives and RCN leadership.  

→ We highly encourage the RCN to distribute information about START's 2025-2026 Trainings and Training Series to staff, community members, and families across your region. 

START has developed flyers, images, and slides for the RCN to use and disseminate. 

Promoting Early Childhood Independence and Engagement

📅Date: September 26, 2025
⌚Time: 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Location: Zoom

How can we support young children with autism to become more independent and engaged in early childhood settings? This evidence-based strategies training shows how clear expectations and consistent routines support learning, engagement, and positive relationships. You’ll explore practical strategies like breaking tasks into steps and using prompts to encourage success in early childhood settings.

Behavior Escalation and Scripts

📅Dates: September 16 and 23, 2025
⌚Time: 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Location: Zoom
Co-sponsored by START and the MiMTSS TA Center.

Educators understand that a consistent, predictable, and positive environment sets students up for success and prevents many behavioral challenges. But what happens when it doesn’t? This two-part series will cover the cycle of behavioral escalation, including the course it takes, the behaviors that students engage in during that course, and what appropriate adult responses are needed.

FAPE in the LRE

📅Date: October 3, 2025
⌚Time: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom

Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) is the foundation of special education. This interactive session helps all school staff-including all teachers, administrators, and support teams—understand what FAPE and LRE means and their role in supporting students with disabilities. Participants will engage in activities and use tools designed to strengthen their ability to support students with disabilities effectively.

Foundations in Peer to Peer - Secondary (Middle and High School) Series

📅Dates: October 2, 2025; October 8, 2025; and October 15, 2025
⌚Time: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom

This series introduces how to build a Peer to Peer program at the secondary level that connects students with and without disabilities to promote belonging throughout the school day. Participants will learn guidance on recruiting, curriculum, and maintaining the program, plus the idea of a “medium of exchange” to help create meaningful student connections. While each Peer to Peer program is unique, the outcomes are clear: better experiences for autistic students, those with IEPs, their peers, and a more positive and accepting school culture for all.

Foundations in Peer to Peer - Elementary Series

📅Dates: October 2, 2025; October 9, 2025; and October 16, 2025
⌚Time: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom

This series introduces how to build a Peer to Peer program at the elementary level that connects students with and without disabilities to promote belonging throughout the school day. Participants will learn guidance on recruiting, curriculum, and maintaining the program, plus the idea of a “medium of exchange” to help create meaningful student connections. While each Peer to Peer program is unique, the outcomes are clear: better experiences for autistic students, those with IEPs, their peers, and a more positive and accepting school culture for all.

Proactive Approaches to Behavior: Script and Strategies for De-escalation

📅Date: October 30, 2025
⌚Time: 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Location: In-person

This team-based training walks a school-based team through the process of understanding the cycle of behavioral escalation and proactively planning for adult responses across the cycle. Teams are introduced to behavioral scripts and a template for developing individualized scripts to support a student. Through a combination of scenarios and real-world applications, teams will learn how to facilitate the development of and support the use of behavior scripts that embody a prevent, teach, respond/reinforce approach to supporting both students and adults.

The Statewide Autism Resources and Training (START) Project is funded by the Michigan Department of Education, Office of Special Education and is is housed in the Grand Valley State University (GVSU) Autism Education Center (AEC). 

START Project | autismed@gvsu.edu | (616) 331-6480