Yvette Blanchard, SCD, PT Professor of Physical Therapy

Dr. Yvette Blanchard completed her Diploma in Health Sciences at the Université de Moncton and her Baccalaureate in Physical Therapy at the Université de Montréal where she also received her Masters of Science with a concentration in Clinical Sciences. She received her Doctor of Science in Therapeutic Studies from Boston University where she studied the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure on neurobehavioral functioning in young infants. Dr. Blanchard began her clinical career in New Brunswick, Canada and in Montreal where she worked with children with physical and developmental disabilities. While pursuing her doctoral studies at Boston University, she studied with Drs. Heidelise Als and T. Berry Brazelton where she trained and certified on the Neonatal Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP) and Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS). Prior to joining the Sacred Heart University physical therapy faculty, she taught in the University of Hartford’s physical therapy program for 14 years where she was primarily responsible for the pediatric curriculum.

Dr. Blanchard has worked in multiple pediatric settings including school, early intervention and neonatal intensive care unit and holds an expertise in neurobehavioral functioning, early infant development, early intervention and prematurity. She has worked extensively with high-risk infants in different settings and has published numerous article and book chapters relating to the field of pediatric physical therapy and early intervention with high-risk infants. Dr. Blanchard is a faculty at the Brazelton Institute where she is the lead NBAS trainer and a NBO trainer. She is also an early intervention provider for the East Hartford Birth to Three Program in Connecticut. With her colleagues at the Brazelton Institute, she has developed the Newborn Behavioral Observation (NBO) system and has co-authored a book published by Brookes Publishers in 2007. Dr. Blanchard has also conducted research in motor control where she has examined the effects of environmental constraints on postural sway in healthy children.

In 2010, Dr. Blanchard became a Fulbright Specialist. The Fulbright Specialist Program promotes linkages between U.S. academics and professionals and their counterparts at universities abroad. The program is designed to award grants to qualified U.S. faculty and professionals, in select disciplines, to engage in short-term collaborative 2 to 6 week projects at higher education institutions in over 100 countries worldwide. Dr. Blanchard has also been actively involved in the Section on Pediatrics of the American Physical Therapy Association where she has served as the CT State representative, Secretary of the Early Intervention Special Interest Group and member of the NICU Task Force. 

Curriculum Vitae