About Aaron
Helping to create classrooms where…
all students can learn
Students need access to thoughtfully designed instruction, with necessary supports—both universally designed and individually tailored
all students are seen
All students must have their strengths valued, their learning needs supported, and their uniqueness celebrated
all students belong
All students need to feel meaningfully included and connected to a classroom community, where they have access to what they need, and where their full selves and families and cultures are known
Aaron Lanou
( he / him )
Special educator | Presenter | Staff developer
Supporting educators to meet the learning and social needs of autistic students and all kids who think and learn differently.
I am dedicated to helping teachers, schools, and organizations implement inclusive, strengths-based instruction and supports for autistic students and all kids with a variety of academic, executive functioning, and social support needs.
I love working with educators on how to use visual supports and graphic organizers, create executive functioning strategies and incorporate student interests, develop supports for social interaction and group work, and improve teacher language and classroom community.
I am a proud member of Team Social Stories. I collaborate with Carol Gray, the developer of Social Stories, and team members Siobhan Timmons and Catherine Faherty, to support the continued development of Social Stories and refine the training for educators, therapists, and families. I also lead official Social Stories workshops and webinars.
As a special education teacher for 10 years, I worked with students with autism and learning disabilities in inclusion and specialized settings, from kindergarten through high school.
As Director of Professional Development and Executive Director of NYU’s Nest Support Project, I led the team supporting the largest autism inclusion model in the country. I developed and presented dozens of workshops, consulted with hundreds of teachers and principals—to help educators see and meet the needs of autistic students in inclusive classrooms. At Nest I oversaw the program’s expansion to more than 50 schools serving kindergarten to 12th grade students across New York City; I developed the middle and high school model in collaboration with a team of secondary educators; and I led the international expansion of the Nest model to the city of Aarhus, Denmark.
As facilitator and program consultant with the New York Transit Museum’s Subway Sleuths program, I support and facilitate sessions of the museum’s strengths-based after-school program to foster social engagement for autistic students who are passionate about trains and transit.
As Project Director of the Path Program, I helped to lead the development of the Path Program model, an adaptation of the Nest model for students with social-emotional support needs—part of an innovative inclusion pilot program through a partnership between NYU and the NYC Department of Education.
As adjunct faculty at CUNY’s Hunter College and at NYU, I have taught graduate and undergraduate courses on instructional methods for students with learning disabilities and teaching students with complex support needs.
I received my BA at UMass Amherst and my MSEd in Special Education at CUNY’s Hunter College.
Want to bring Aaron to your school or organization?
I would not be able to do any of this work without the guidance and mentorship and support and collaboration from some incredible individuals. Here is a brief, incomplete but important list of some of those people. ❤️
Dorothy Siegel has blazed the trail and knocked down doors and united coffee pots, and I’m lucky she invited me to be a part of the adventure.
Kristie Patten leads by listening to the true experts, seeing strengths, and connecting the right people to make things happen.
Lauren Hough Williams and I have shared an owl brain for 20 years and we have learned and co-created some fabulous things in that time.
Rex Huang is responsible for the beautiful design of this webpage, and for my heart.
Susan Brennan has helped me see things differently over four-hour brainstorms with treasured chart paper and post-its and pie.
Publications
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Understanding and Addressing the Unique Academic Profiles of Students with ASD
Co-authored chapter with Lauren Hough Williams. In S. Cohen & L. Hough (Eds.) The ASD Nest Model
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Case Studies on Using Strengths and Interests to Address the Needs of Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders
Co-authored with Lauren Hough and Elizabeth Powell. Intervention in School and Clinic, 2012.
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Playing to Strengths: Morning Meetings Designed for Students with Autism
Responsive Classroom Newsletter, Summer 2014.
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The ASD Nest Middle/High School Model for Inclusive Education
Autism Spectrum News, Summer 2015
