Courses

VCU-ACE offers a variety of comprehensive e-learning opportunities to meet the needs of those new to autism as well as seasoned learners who want to investigate broader topics related to ASD. There are two online course formats: facilitated and self-paced. See the table below for more information about current online courses and upcoming offerings. Click the Details link for any course to learn more or register.

	Course Name	Next Offering
	Just the Basics: Educating Young Children with ASD in Early Care and Education	September 8, 2025
	Evidence-based Practices to Teach Students with ASD	To be determined Get notified when the next section's registration opens
	Administrators Guide to Students with Autism	Self-paced
	Autism Spectrum Disorder for Paraprofessionals: Providing Effective Instruction and Supports	Self-paced
	Curriculum Framework	Self-paced
	Data-Informed Decision Making for Educators	Self-paced
	Foundations of Autism Spectrum Disorder Self-Paced Online Course	Self-paced
	Improving Goal Mastery through Data-Based Decision-Making	Self-paced
	Preparing the Child with ASD for the Early Childhood-to-Kindergarten Transition	Self-paced
	Safety for All: Autism Training for Transportation Staff	Self-paced
	The Parent Playbook	Self-paced
	VARC Autism Training	Self-paced

**Please Note: All VCU-ACE facilitated courses are currently available to residents of Virginia only.

Upcoming Virtual Learning Communities in Autism:

	Title	Dates
	Virtual Learning Community in Autism on Social Communication	July 14 - August 8, 2025

A learning community is a place for individuals to learn new knowledge and skills through collaboration. This community will meet online to share experiences supporting students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other related disabilities. Participants will meet regularly, share expertise, and work collaboratively specifically to promote positive behaviors for students with ASD.

This Community is for professionals and paraprofessionals who support students with ASD in Virginia. Participants specifically interested in promoting positive behaviors in students with ASD are the target audience. This includes teachers, principals, paraprofessionals, special education directors, transition coordinators, and any other interested school personnel.

Weekly sessions in live virtual meetings (Wednesdays 3:00-4:00pm, via Zoom video conference). Participants are expected to participate each week, share resources and reflections, and evaluate their own implementation.

Points for educators working towards licensure renewal (recertification) may be awarded for completion of this activity. Each month, you should expect to participate in 8 hours of time to complete all of the activities. At the end of the 4 sessions the participant will have completed 8 contact hours. Certificates of completion will be sent to all individuals who successfully complete these hours documenting participation and successful participation.

There is no cost to participate for professionals and paraprofessionals in Virginia. At this time, we cannot accept registrations from individuals who do not work in the Commonwealth of Virginia's School Systems.

Learning Community Leader: Teresa Cogar
Email: tlcogar@vcu.edu

Mailing address:

VCU-ACE
PO Box 842011
Richmond, VA 23284-2011