Elaina Kabzan-Vaynman, CCC SLP

This year, my son attended a class called Social Pragmatic Skills Group offered through Brooklyn's Kings Bay Y. It was a twice-a-week class taught by Elaina Kabzan, a speech language pathologist, with assistance of Marta Brodski who is a student extern in the field of Speech-Language Pathology. My son is a bright and lively child, who has had difficulties fitting in at school this year, often getting in trouble with teachers and school personnel because of his impulsive nature and tendency to get distracted from schoolwork. He immediately liked the class where he finally was surrounded by people who understood and appreciated him without trying to change his personality. They offered him tools with which he could recognize and modify his behavior to fit in better within restricting societal norms. He came out equipped with very specific goals and ways to achieve them. He met other kids with the same difficulties, which reassured him in his normality. Overall, it was a very positive experience for my son and for me. There is still a long road ahead of us - four months are not enough to become a social adept. However, this class is a very good start for those who don't want to resort to medicating the livelihood out of their children.

Elaina as a wonderful specialist and a radiant and caring person, who bases her help on the child's best traits, eliminating negativity out of the process. She spends significant time talking and educating the parents, too, while the children are involved in the classwork with Marta. This is a huge help, because often, parents are left to their own devices guessing where else to go and what phone numbers to call to get as much help as possible.
Sasha Khorovsky

I can't find enough words of praise for the job Elaina did with my kid. My 6-yr-old attended the pragmatic skills group that Elaina runs and it was one of the most positive and effective experience we have. Elaina fosters such a friendly atmosphere and team work during the group sessions that my son was looking forward to each class and referred to all kids in the group as his friends. Actually, all kids in the group were happy to see each other, and and inquired about each other, and continue to socialize at the session's end. My son's behavior has noticeably improved, and he actually reached the goal we set in the start of the program. Not only Elaina is great with kids but she was thorough with guiding me as a parent through the program. She was taking time to talk to each parent after each session. I most definitely recommend Elaina to anyone who seeks to improve child behavior and/or communication skills.

Elaina worked with my son from 18 months until he was 3 years old. My family and I attribute his improvement in language and speech to her work.
He is no longer frustrated and no longer having tantrums because we finally understand his needs.
Tamara Goldberg

Elaina was my sons therapist for over a year. My son had a great time working with her. I saw huge improvements in my sons behavior and communication skills. I found Elaina to be a very professional, patient, and caring person. She is a great therapist. To date I still recommend her to all my friends. ~~~ Liliya K.