Almost everyone who calls our office has talked to Abigail at some point over the last 13 years. She’s our go to person for all questions big and small. If you’ve had a question about a product, if for some reason something went wrong with your order, or if you created a something new and fabulous, you’ve probably spoken to her.
Abigail is head of operations here at Different Roads and really, so much more. She’s our merchandiser, shaping our product line and catalog with the best materials out there for supporting ABA and VB Programs. She does her best to stay on top of what parents and teachers need and what’s available, carefully curating our product line to include only the most useful and practical teaching tools. In addition to sourcing and selecting many of the great products you’ve come to love, she also creates and manages all of our print and catalog content, keeps our website current and accurate, and generates our blog and social media content. She keeps things over here running smoothly and efficiently.
She wears many hats at Different Roads which always keeps her on her toes. She is our go-to person regarding the ins and outs of each of our products; how they work, why you use them, if there happens to be a tortoise included in the Animals flash cards…you catch our drift. She’s been our lead project manager on all of our Apps, collaborating with Julie and Stacy on content to bring our vision to technical reality.
Abigail and Julie also work closely together to stay abreast of changes and innovations in the autism community so that we can bring our customers not only the best products, but a reliable source of information from accredited resources and professionals.
Abigail joined Julie at Different Roads in 2000, fresh out of Brown University, back when we operated out of the hallway in Julie’s apartment. It was an immersive education, learning about how to run a small business and what it actually meant to have a child on the spectrum. Julie’s daughter Miranda was always in a therapy session or watching the Muppets Take Manhattan down the hall. Operating out of Julie’s home gave Abigail a deep insight into the realities and needs of children with ASD as well as their families in addition to the intensive behavioral therapy so crucial to their growth and success. Abigail has a deep connection to the community and an empathy that drives her each day. Her top priority remains supporting teachers and families in their quest to help their kids.
As the first comprehensive, empirically tested intervention specifically designed for toddlers and preschoolers with autism, the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) is an early intervention approach for toddlers ages 12-36 months and continuing until ages 48-60 months. The model does not require a particular setting for implementation and can be used by parents, teachers, therapists, at home, in preschool or in a clinical setting. To help you get started with this early intervention model developed by Sally Rogers, Ph.D., and Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D., we are offering a 15% discount on the 
Do you believe in fate? Many years ago, after a particularly grueling day, Stacy thought, maybe it would be nice to have a 9-5 job. On a whim, she contacted Different Roads inquiring about job opportunities. When we saw her resume and credentials, we nearly jumped out of our seats with excitement. Of course, luckily for all of us, Stacy realized her calling was in the field working directly with children but she’s been consulting with us ever since.
At Different Roads to Learning, connecting with all of you is what drives us and keeps us moving forward. We sometimes long for the old days when we knew so many of you by first name, when you would call in your orders and we would have the chance to get to know you and your children. After 18 years in business and with so much activity shifting to the web, we still want to maintain our connection to all of you. We so appreciate it when you take the time to share with us, be it via email or on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. We figured now is a good time to say hello to old friends and let you know a bit about what we’ve been up to and introduce ourselves to those of you who we haven’t had the pleasure of getting to know yet. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be introducing you to our small but incredibly dedicated and wonderful team. Keep an eye out for upcoming posts!
Summer is winding down and for most it’s time to get back to a routine. For many of our students and children that means getting a handle on a busy new schedule of self-care, school, therapy sessions, extra-curricular activities, play dates and special occasions. A visual schedule or an activity schedule can help pull all of the parts of a hectic day together for a child and increase independence, build organizational skills as well as improve comprehension skills. A visual schedule provides clear expectations, utilizes a child’s visual learning strengths, can reduce anxiety or difficulty with transitions, and can increase flexibility.
