[1] Both of his parents, Maxwell and Anna (Silverlight) Sarason, were Jewish immigrants[2] and his father worked in a children's clothes factory in the garment district of Manhattan.
Due to the physical limitations Sarason experienced as a result of polio, he became more interested in writing as a career (one of the activities he could still do with his right arm).
[4] When he was seven years old, he began attending Temple B’Nai Abraham, a Hebrew school in New Jersey, on some afternoons and Sunday mornings.
[4][2] After obtaining a Ph.D. from Clark University in 1942, Sarason served for three years as the chief psychologist at the Southbury Training School, a residential facility for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
He developed a humanistic view of people with intellectual disabilities after witnessing their creativity and their rich emotional experiences.
[6] While at the Southbury Training School, Sarason became frustrated with individual-based psychological theories that did not consider social context.
Sarason stated that the Southbury Training School developed a bureaucratic structure, began to experience departmental rivalries, and lacked effective leadership.
In 1945, Carl Hovland, the chair of the Department of Psychology at Yale, offered Sarason an Assistant Clinical Professor Position.
[4] Based largely on his experiences at the Southbury Training School, Sarason published his first book in 1949: Psychological Problems in Mental Deficiency.
In the 1950s, Sarason developed a close friendship and working relationship with Burton Blatt, the chair of the department of special education at New Haven State College.
To highlight this concern, Sarason, Blatt, and another researcher (Ken Davidson) wrote The Preparation of Teachers: An Unstudied Problem in Education.
[12] During the first time period from 1963 to 1965, Sarason and his colleagues aimed to gain entrance into various settings by partnering with organizations, including public schools, anti-poverty programs, and a center for intellectually disabled people.
During the second time period from 1965 to 1973, Sarason and the clinic staff focused on studying how settings were created and factors that influenced their longevity.
Based on this work, Sarason argued that clinical psychologists should expand their individual-based focus and consider how broader settings contribute to both well-being and pathology.
[16] Sarason was described as an incredibly warm and welcoming man who made a positive impact on the lives of many students, colleagues, and scholars.