Victoria spoke with Polina Shkadron!

Polina Shkadron is the owner of Play to Learn, SLP PC, an established private practice in the Forest Hills area of Queens, New York servicing children and families. Polina holds a Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from CUNY Queens College where she is also an adjunct lecturer. Over the course of her career, she has earned three ACE awards from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association for her dedication to learning. Her specialties include: autism spectrum disorders and social skills intervention; behavior management through play; feeding therapy and nutrition education; language challenges and executive function deficits; parent coaching and empowerment. Polina is a Certified Family Trauma Professional (CFTP) through the International Association of Trauma Professionals, which has significantly guided her practice to include aspects from the field of mental health. She has researched and formed intricate connections between adverse childhood experiences, ramifications of toxic stressors, and the ways in which detrimental relationships are created with food. With her Master’s of Science in Nutrition Education, she attends to the enhancement of the mealtime environment for children and families through nutrition counseling, parental empowerment, and self-efficacy.   Polina is deeply passionate in helping parents/caregivers connect and reconnect with their kids. Her overall goal is to educate families on the major impact that foundational attitudes have on building lifelong skills.