Dr. Sarah Orlans has worked within fields related to behavior, education, and developmental disabilities for over 20 years. She has had comprehensive experience teaching individuals across varying ability levels and diverse needs. She has worked with neurotypical students as well as students with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities, specific learning disabilities, communication disorders, hearing impairments, visual impairments, intellectual disabilities, individuals with multiple disabilities, and students with emotional disabilities. In addition, she is well versed in training teaching staff, developing and implementing curricula, differentiating lessons, working collaboratively with professionals across a variety of disciplines, and providing training and support to caregivers.

Dr. Orlans taught as a special education teacher for applied behavior analysis and social-communications classrooms for 10 years. Following these years as a classroom teacher, she was a district-wide behavior specialist within a large public school district just outside of the metropolitan area. There she provided consultation services to staff members on behalf of students in general education and special education settings. In this role, her main responsibilities focused on completing functional behavior assessments, developing behavior intervention plans, as well as training and supporting classroom teams across multiple school buildings to develop and implement positive behavior support systems to improve students’ performance and learning within the school environment. Dr. Orlans strives to focus on learner-driven educational programming and is committed to doing whatever is necessary to meet the individual needs of each student. She strongly values the importance of maintaining a positive learning environment for students and staff to promote progress and success.

Dr. Orlans earned a BA degree from Washington University in Saint Louis with majors in psychology and anthropology. She then spent time assisting with behavior research, delivering direct ABA services (home, community, and school-based), providing case management for children with autism spectrum disorder enrolled in a state Medicaid waiver program, completing eligibility interviews and reports for individuals applying for state services, and coaching children with developmental disabilities in a weekend sports program.

Dr. Orlans holds an MA in Applied Behavior Analysis and an MEd in Instructional Practices from Teachers College, Columbia University. She received her MPhil and PhD degrees in Applied Behavior Analysis (applied to teaching) from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University. Dr. Orlans is a certified general education teacher for students from birth through grade 6 and a certified special education teacher for students from birth through grade 12 in New York State. Additionally, Dr. Orlans is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral® and a New York State Licensed Behavior Analyst.

Dr. Orlans was born in the Nation’s capital. She has spent time living in Maryland, Missouri, London, Washington D.C., and New York City. Dr. Orlans played competitive soccer throughout her childhood and young adult life, finding that her love of soccer provided a welcome balance to the intensity of her academic studies. She was recognized as a National Merit® Commended Scholar in high school. Dr. Orlans lives in New York City and enjoys spending time with her family, who are spread from coast to coast. In her free time, she enjoys catching up on reading nonfiction, watching documentaries, hiking, traveling, cheering on her favorite soccer teams, and cavorting around the local doggie parks with her beloved rescue dog, Jackson.