Elaine Hall

Elaine Hall “Coach E!” referenced by The New York Times as “the child whisperer, “ is a pioneer in using inclusive theater, film, music, and movement to bring out the best in individuals of all abilities. Her work has been lauded in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, on the Oprah Winfrey Network, on CNN, CBS and on HBO. Elaine was a top Hollywood acting coach when her life changed dramatically after her son was diagnosed with severe autism. When traditional behavioral therapies didn’t work, she sought information from experts in the field of autism such as Dr. Stanley Greenspan, Dr. Ricki Robinson and Dr. Barry Prizant and then rallied creative people to implement what she learned. Slowly, her son merged out of isolation. Elaine developed these methods into the “Inclusion from WithIn® and The Seven Keys to Unlock and Understand Autism” to train others and created The Miracle Project®, a groundbreaking, award winning inclusive theatre, film and expressive arts program, profiled in the Emmy winning HBO documentary, AUTISM: The Musical. The Miracle Project, evidence based and endorsed by autism experts worldwide, brings out the often unheard voices of autism. The program is replicable with trainings led by Elaine and her team world-wide. Her students, and her son, once isolated, withdrawn, and too anxious to even walk into a room of peers, have now developed friendships, positive social skills, have jobs, and some have even performed on stages with Jack Black, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the United Nations. Some are now pursuing professional careers in the entertainment industry, appearing in feature films and on hit TV shows such as Parenthood, Speechless, Atypical and The Good Doctor.

The United Nations selected Elaine Hall’s memoir, Now I See the Moon, for World Autism Awareness Day where she has been a featured speaker several times. Hall has received honors from Autism Speaks, Autism Society of L.A., The Mayor of Los Angeles, Holly Robinson Peete, The Shalom Institute, Etta Israel and others. Elaine also leads workshops in inclusion for faith-based organizations, and has received several grants from The Jewish Community Foundation for her groundbreaking work in religious programming for individuals with disabilities. She has led trainings in universities and including at Brown University, UCLA, and at NYU and travels world-wide to respond to requests to replicate the program. Nominated as one of Los Angeles’ 50 most inspiring women, Elaine lives in Santa Monica with the two loves of her life, her son, Neal and husband Jeff Frymer, a Marriage and Family therapist.