Meet your therapist

Hi, I'm Velia.
I believe every child
has a voice.

For over 15 years I've worked alongside children and families across Los Angeles, South America, and West Africa learning that the desire to be heard is universal, and that the right support can unlock it in every child.

Velia in Los Angeles, California
V
Velia Gonzalez
MS, CCC-SLP · Bilingual English & Spanish
15+
Years of experience
MS
Communications Disorders California State University Northridge · Speech-Language Pathology
BA
Spanish Literature and Cultural Studies Occidental College
The story

A journey across three continents.

Velia's path into speech therapy began in Los Angeles, California, working with children with special needs in under-resourced communities. She saw firsthand how much a child's ability to communicate shapes everything their confidence, their friendships, their place in the world.

"I kept meeting children who had so much to share. They just needed someone to meet them where they were."

That conviction took her across parts of South America and West Africa, where she worked with children and families in vastly different cultural and linguistic contexts. What she found everywhere was the same: children who wanted to connect, parents who wanted to help, and a universal human need to be heard and understood.

Those experiences shaped everything about how Velia practices today her patience, her cultural sensitivity, her belief that therapy must be built around the whole child, not just a set of clinical benchmarks.

🏙️
Columbus, Ohio
Vela Speech Therapy
Founded Vela to bring all of that experience home offering Columbus families a therapist who has seen what's possible when children are truly seen and supported.
Velia in Los Angeles, California
🌎
South America
A new perspective
Worked alongside families across South America, deepening her bilingual practice and her understanding of how culture, language, and family shape a child's communication journey.
Velia in South America
🌍
West Africa
The universal language of healing
Inspired by children and families navigating communication across language barriers and limited resources proof that the desire to express and connect is universal.
Velia in West Africa
🏙️
Columbus, Ohio
Vela Speech Therapy
Founded Vela to bring all of that experience home offering Columbus families a therapist who has seen what's possible when children are truly seen and supported.
Velia in Columbus, Ohio
"
Every child has a voice.
— Velia Gonzalez, MS CCC-SLP · Founding Philosophy
Areas of expertise

What Velia specializes in.

Fifteen years of clinical experience across diverse communities has shaped a practice built on evidence-based methods, cultural competency, and deep specialization in ADHD and myofunctional therapy.

🧠
Executive Function
Specialized support for children navigating attention, organization, working memory, and the language skills that underpin academic success. A core specialty at Vela.
🗣️
Articulation & Phonology
Helping children produce sounds clearly so they can be understood — by strangers, teachers, and friends, not just the people who love them.
Childhood Apraxia of Speech
Evidence-based, intensive treatment for CAS one of the most misdiagnosed and undertreated speech motor disorders in young children.
💬
Early Language Development
Play-based, parent-involved therapy for toddlers and preschoolers building their first words, sentences, and social communication skills.
🤝
Social Communication
Supporting children in building the conversational and social language skills that help them make friends, navigate school, and belong.
📚
Language-Based Learning
Targeted support for children whose reading, writing, or academic performance is affected by underlying language processing differences.
Bilingual practice

Serving families in English & Spanish.

Velia is a fully bilingual clinician not just conversationally, but clinically. She can assess, diagnose, and deliver therapy in both English and Spanish, and understands the unique considerations for bilingual children and families. No interpreter needed. No nuance lost.

🇺🇸 English
🇲🇽 Spanish / Español
Ready to connect?

Let's talk about your child.

A free 15-minute phone call is the first step. No forms, no intake maze — just a real conversation with Velia about what you're seeing and how she can help.

Schedule a Free Call