Sarah Hesney is a Connecticut licensed pediatric nurse practitioner specializing in developmental and behavioral medicine. With over ten years of experience in pediatrics, Sarah has cultivated a passion for providing collaborative and family-centered care. She strives to address the medical needs of children with developmental differences, as well as improve the social and emotional well-being of children and their families.

Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University along with Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Nursing from Columbia University. She built a foundation for understanding developmental and behavioral challenges while working in primary care. Her experience helping children with special needs began at Shriners Hospital for Children, where she cared for children with spinal cord injuries, neurodevelopmental conditions and rare genetic diseases. Sarah then decided to pursue a career centered around child development while working at the Marcus Autism Center in Atlanta.  There she provided comprehensive autism assessments and diagnoses through a multidisciplinary model of care. Her expertise grew through her specialization in medication management as she worked closely with the psychiatry team to treat various behavioral challenges and psychiatric comorbidities affecting autistic children. Sarah went on to work at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, where she was able to expand her skills to address the needs of children with a variety of developmental differences.

Sarah aims to foster open communication and mutual respect to create a warm and welcoming environment where families feel heard, supported, and empowered. Her practice focuses on providing medication management for school-aged children and early adolescents with autism, neurodiversity or other developmental disorders who also display behavioral difficulties, anxiety or ADHD symptoms. Additional services include formulation of treatment plans, recommendations for educational accommodations and discussions of behavior modification strategies to help children reach their full potential. Sarah prioritizes partnerships with caregivers while also collaborating closely with therapists, school professionals and other healthcare providers to care for the whole child. Her compassion and unwavering dedication to patients and their families make her a trusted advocate and ally.

When out of the office, Sarah enjoys sharing her love of music and dance with her husband and two children.