Stages Connect
Angela Nelson
Stages LearningFounder & CEO · Stages Learning
Angela Nelson is the founder and CEO of Stages Learning. With degrees in law and education from Harvard, she has spent over 25 years developing curriculum and tools for students with autism and significant disabilities.
Articles by Angela
Behavior & Sensory Building Fall Transition Routines: Task Analysis Strategies for Behavior Therapists
Why Fall Transitions Matter
Angela Nelson
Jul 25, 2025 · 4 min read
Classroom Strategies Empowering Educators: The Crucial Role of People in Enhancing Special Education Programs
The success of special education students relies heavily on the dedication, expertise, and collaboration of the professionals who support them. From teachers and paraprofessionals to therapists and administrators, the pe…
Angela Nelson
May 19, 2024 · 1 min read
Classroom Strategies Streamlining Special Education Programs: The Importance of Effective Procedures
In the intricate tapestry of special education, procedures serve as the threads that weave together the various components of a program, ensuring a seamless and effective delivery of services. These procedures, which enc…
Angela Nelson
May 19, 2024 · 8 min read
Classroom Strategies Transforming Learning Spaces: Enhancing Special Education Environments for Student Success
The physical environment in which learning takes place can have a profound impact on the success and well-being of students with disabilities. From the layout and accessibility of classrooms to the incorporation of senso…
Angela Nelson
May 19, 2024 · 5 min read
Classroom Strategies Transforming Special Education Through Effective Practices: Insights from the 5P Framework
At the heart of every successful special education program lies a set of practices that are both effective and compassionate. These practices, which encompass everything from instructional strategies and behavioral inter…
Angela Nelson
May 19, 2024 · 1 min read
Classroom Strategies Maximizing Student Success: The Critical Role of the Products & Teaching Tools Used in Special Education
When it comes to supporting students with disabilities in special education programs, the importance of using the right products and teaching tools cannot be overstated. From curriculum materials and assistive technologi…
Angela Nelson
May 19, 2024 · 2 min read
Classroom Strategies How to Conduct a Comprehensive Special Education Program Evaluation: The 5P Framework
Are you a special education director or curriculum coordinator looking for a comprehensive approach to evaluate and improve your special education program? Do you want to ensure that your services are effectively meeting…
Angela Nelson
May 19, 2024 · 1 min read
Autism Resources A Special Request: Help Us Support Refugee Families Who Have Children With Autism
These days, not a day goes by without a refugee crisis in the headlines. From the fall of the Afghan government to the war in Ukraine to the protracted conflict in Syria, the number of...
Angela Nelson
Apr 4, 2022 · 3 min read
About Autism Pushing the Envelope: Autism Rates are Increasing
A Letter from the CEO: 1 in 44 Children are Now Being Diagnosed with Autism So Why is this Good News? The CDC just released new estimates on the number of children in the U.S. who are being diagnosed...
Angela Nelson
Dec 4, 2021 · 3 min read
Emotions & Social Skills Pushing the Envelope: Making Up for Learning Loss Due to COVID for Children with Autism
A Letter from the CEO Federal relief packages passed by Congress are providing school districts with billions of dollars in recovery funding to help schools support students during and after the...
Angela Nelson
May 9, 2021 · 4 min read
Classroom Strategies Pushing the Envelope: Voting to Protect Special Education
A Letter from the CEO: Vote to Protect Special Education Never has there been a more important time to vote. In 2016 only 60% of eligible voters actually voted! That missing 40% of voters would have...
Angela Nelson
Oct 25, 2020 · 1 min read
Autism Resources Pushing the Envelope: What Does Authentic Leadership Look Like?
Letter from the CEO: Authentic Leadership Among my favorite books is Authentic Leadership by Bill George. The book opens with: “We need authentic leaders, people of the highest integrity, committed...
Angela Nelson
Sep 21, 2020 · 5 min read
Classroom Strategies Pushing the Envelope: Girls and Autism?
A Letter from the CEO: Girls and Autism? We’ve wanted to do an article about girls and autism for some time now. There is so much to say: under-diagnosis, different presenting characteristics,...
Angela Nelson
Aug 7, 2020 · 1 min read
Emotions & Social Skills Pushing the Envelope: Autistic Black Lives Matter
A Letter from the CEO: Autistic Black Lives Matter Our hearts go out to the family and friends of George Floyd and to the many other people of color who have been subjected to the insidious racism...
Angela Nelson
Jun 20, 2020 · 2 min read
ARIS & Curriculum Language Builder ARIS Free Emergency Resources: Overview
Given current circumstances you may be faced with the unexpected challenge of educating and engaging your child with autism or other special needs at home. With so much in flux, we want to offer free...
Angela Nelson
Mar 23, 2020 · 2 min read
ARIS & Curriculum Tips for Implementing Language Builder ARIS Emergency at-Home Lessons
I truly hope that the downloadable Language Builder ARIS lessons have been helpful as you endeavor to set up your child's at-home education program. In 2020, we made available 34 downloadable...
Angela Nelson
Mar 23, 2020 · 11 min read
ARIS & Curriculum Do-It-Yourself Materials for ABA-based Lessons
For the free lessons we provided in our ARIS Emergency Home Autism Education Program we have included a variety of photo cards that you can download, print and get started with, including: Nouns ,...
Angela Nelson
Mar 19, 2020 · 4 min read
Autism Resources Pushing the Envelope: Are Women CEO’s Different?
A Letter from the CEO: Are Women CEO’s Different? Well…short answer: yes. I don’t say this lightly. As a woman CEO who worked hard to get where I am, I think sometimes about the hurdles I had to jump...
Angela Nelson
Nov 7, 2019 · 2 min read
Autism Resources Pushing the Envelope: Rebuilding Paradise
A Letter from the CEO: Rebuilding Paradise Growing up just outside of Paradise – Paradise, California that is – we always knew that wildfire season was a natural part of the landscape. But even with...
Angela Nelson
Jan 13, 2019 · 2 min read
ABA & Therapy Autism Magazines and Journals
Magazines The following are some of the leading magazines geared towards families, therapists, educators and researchers interested in staying on top of the news and scientific developments in the...
Angela Nelson
Feb 8, 2017 · 2 min read
About Autism Pushing the Envelope: Global Autism Awareness
Global Autism Awareness: Three Students Got Us Started In 2016, three students from the Harvard Graduate School of Education approached us about internships. They were interested in autism in their...
Angela Nelson
Apr 10, 2016 · 2 min read
About Autism Pushing the Envelope: The Importance of First Person Autism Accounts
Adults with Autism: The Importance of First Person Accounts Many parents of children with autism wonder what will happen when their children grow up – what will their adult lives be like? This is...
Angela Nelson
Jan 10, 2016 · 2 min read
ARIS & Curriculum NEW Language Builder Software
I am happy to report that Stages Learning Materials has finally taken the leap into the 21st century! The Language Builder cards have become a staple in autism and speech therapy programs across the...
Angela Nelson
Aug 30, 2014 · 1 min read
ARIS & Curriculum Pushing the Envelope: Upended Plans Sometimes Work Best
A Letter from the CEO: A Leap of Faith It is such an honor to have an article about the launch of our new Stages Language Builder App in the Harvard Graduate School of Education News ! My...
Angela Nelson
Apr 30, 2014 · 2 min read
Language & Communication Part 4 of 4: Labeling and Requesting
Additional Activities to Develop Sentence Skills Labeling and Requesting are the most basic of all full sentence activities, and provide a basis for your student to understand that...
Angela Nelson
Apr 29, 2014 · 4 min read
ARIS & Curriculum Part 2 of 4: Building Vocabulary
Building Expressive Vocabulary This is the step where your child learns to actually say the words out loud. All of the tasks we just described in the previous Autism and Language article come into...
Angela Nelson
Apr 29, 2014 · 2 min read
Emotions & Social Skills Choosing Meaningful Gifts for People on the Autism Spectrum
These days nearly everyone knows a friend or family member who is touched by autism. Perhaps it’s your own child or your sister’s child. Perhaps it’s the child of your neighbor, your dentist, your...
Angela Nelson
Apr 29, 2014 · 1 min read
Language & Communication Part 1 of 4: Encouraging Emerging Language and Receptive Vocabulary
Emerging Language and Building Vocabulary Language development varies from child to child, and there are wide ranges of expected “normal” language development in young children. If you have specific...
Angela Nelson
Apr 18, 2014 · 4 min read
ARIS & Curriculum Part 3 of 4: From Basic Vocabulary to Building Sentences
The most popular use of the Language Builder Picture Card Series is to build vocabulary. The realistic and current photos help students to learn the name of various nouns, occupations,...
Angela Nelson
Apr 18, 2014 · 3 min read
Autism Resources Puzzles: Playing or Learning?
Puzzles are classic toys that come in many forms: jigsaw puzzles, peg puzzles, framed board puzzles, block puzzles, and more! When a child starts to put together puzzles they are learning about...
Angela Nelson
Apr 17, 2014 · 1 min read
Classroom Strategies Importance of Categorization
Learning to categorize items is a basic task for young children. Close your eyes for a moment and picture a typical pre-school classroom: children are sorting little plastic bears, red bears in one...
Angela Nelson
Apr 17, 2014 · 1 min read
Behavior & Sensory Teaching Kids with Autism about Emotions
Parents and educators often struggle to help children with autism communicate their feelings. When children with autism have trouble recognizing and communicating how they feel, it may contribute to...
Angela Nelson
Apr 17, 2014 · 1 min read
Classroom Strategies Integrating Your Child into the Mainstream Classroom
When you first begin your one-on-one intensive teaching program with a child with autism or developmental delay, the environment is very structured. Often one child will sit alone at a table with one...
Angela Nelson
Apr 17, 2014 · 2 min read
Autism Resources Eating Healthy at an Early Age
Our first experiences with food have a large effect on our eating habits for the rest of our lives, so the best time to teach good dietary habits is during the early years. Think about some of your...
Angela Nelson
Apr 16, 2014 · 3 min read
Classroom Strategies Community Helpers and Occupation Flash Cards for Autism
There are so many people our children need to interact with on a weekly basis – teachers, doctors, bus drivers, dentists, janitors, crossing guards, store clerks, mail carriers…. Meeting new people...
Angela Nelson
Apr 16, 2014 · 2 min read
ARIS & Curriculum Basic Matching Activities
Why Matching Activities for Children with Autism? Note: These activities are excerpted from the Language Builder® ARIS Full Autism Curriculum developed by Stages Learning Materials. What does...
Angela Nelson
Apr 15, 2014 · 7 min read
Classroom Strategies Back to School Success
New routine, new teachers, new classrooms…. New, new, new! This can be stressful for all children, but even more so for children with autism and other special needs. What can you do to minimize...
Angela Nelson
Apr 15, 2014 · 4 min read
ARIS & Curriculum Using Picture Flashcards for Language Development for Autistic* Children
Flashcards with real photo images are an essential tool for children with autism to aid them in learning language skills. A common challenge for children and adults with autism is their ability to...
Angela Nelson
Apr 15, 2014 · 3 min read
ARIS & Curriculum Using Games to Promote Peer Interaction
This resource was created as a supplement for the Language Builder: Academic Readiness Intervention System (ARIS) complete early autism curriculum, Lesson #74, Playing Games with a Peer and Lesson...
Angela Nelson
Apr 15, 2014 · 2 min read
ARIS & Curriculum Lang-O-Learn Cards Labeled in 17 Different Languages
Stages Learning Materials produces 13 flash card sets that are labeled on the reverse in 17 common languages (English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Chinese simplified,...
Angela Nelson
Apr 15, 2014 · 1 min read
About Autism Autism Technology
Over approximately the past 2 decades, with the rise in the prevalence of autism, an entire industry has grown up around treating and teaching children and adults with autism, as well as easing the...
Angela Nelson
Apr 15, 2014 · 16 min read
About Autism What is Autism?
Rise in Autism Diagnosis 20 years ago most people had never heard the term autism, much less met anyone who had a child with autism. Today the Center for Disease Control estimates that rates of...
Angela Nelson
Apr 15, 2014 · 1 min read
ABA & Therapy Language Milestones
How many professionals have been asked: “How do I know if my child is behind in language development?” How many parents have asked the question, or at l east w ondered to themselves?...
Angela Nelson
Apr 14, 2014 · 2 min read
Classroom Strategies Why Real Photo Games in Early Childhood Education?
A growing trend in Early Childhood Education is the focus on using materials with real photo images rather than illustrations. Teaching ideologies such as Montessori have long understood the...
Angela Nelson
Apr 14, 2014 · 1 min read
Classroom Strategies Classroom Bingo
Classroom Bingo is a fun teaching tool for use at home or in the classroom. With Stages’ Picture Recognition Bingo kids won’t even know that they’re learning as they listen intently to...
Angela Nelson
Apr 14, 2014 · 3 min read
Language & Communication Why Real Photos? What about Cartoons?
Iconicity refers to the degree of resemblance between a picture and the object that it depicts. A cartoon image, for example, would have a low degree of iconicity, while a photograph would have a...
Angela Nelson
Apr 14, 2014 · 1 min read
Language & Communication Not Just Why... How? - Get them Engaged!
Just using realistic pictures to interact with and teach children is not enough. The key is in the specific ways that you use the pictures to build vocabulary, communication, literacy and critical...
Angela Nelson
Apr 12, 2014 · 1 min read
Classroom Strategies Background on Teaching Children with Autism Language Using Pictures
When very young children first begin to learn language skills, they learn new words by hearing the spoken word tied to the actual object (Richards & Goldfarb, 1986). For example, if parents...
Angela Nelson
Apr 10, 2014 · 2 min read
Classroom Strategies Not on Twitter? Reasons Why You Should Be
I know, I know – you just conquered Facebook so why should you even consider joining yet ANOTHER social media network? Believe it or not, Twitter is more than just a status update...
Angela Nelson
4 min read