Brand Materials

Company Background

Angela Nelson, a UCLA trained ABA Therapist, founded Stages Learning in 1997 when autism diagnoses first began to rise. Our top-selling autism education product, the Language Builder Picture Cards, was designed to specifically meet the learning needs of children with autism. The research-based Language Builder Series has become a staple in home and school programs around the world and Stages Learning is now the premier developer of learning tools for children with autism.

Now headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Stages works with faculty at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, providing an incubator for graduate students who are working at the intersection of new research and learning technologies. Applying innovative research and design strategies, Angela and her team, all graduates of the Harvard Graduate School of Education's "Technology, Innovation, and Education" program, have designed new online tools for language learning, including our popular Language Builder App.

Executive Bio: Angela Nelson, Ed.M. J.D.

CEO & President

Angela founded Stages Learning Materials in 1997 as a vehicle to publish and distribute her line of photo-based teaching tools for autism and special needs. Angela has a BA in Psychology, and a JD, both from UCLA; and an M.Ed. from Harvard Graduate School of Education from the Technology, Innovation and Education Program.

At UCLA Angela studied behavioral psychology under Dr. Ivar Lovaas, head of the premier program in the treatment and education of children with autism. Following graduation, she worked as a senior therapist for the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, supervising educational programs, performing assessments, and conducting workshops for parents and professionals across the country and in Europe. During her graduate work at UCLA, Angela completed multiple cross-departmental courses through the MBA program at UCLA’s Anderson School of Business Management.

Angela is currently the incoming Chair of the Education Market Association, serves as a Teaching Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and speaks at national conferences and education institutes on autism education and early literacy.

Educational Materials

White Paper: Interactive Books for Early Literacy (January 2017) -- Link to PDF here.
White Paper: Vocabulary Cards for Early Word Learning (May 2016.) Link to PDF here.