VELA is focused on serving the parent of the child with special needs- through the parent, for the child. We do provide specialized childcare services for the child with special needs and their siblings while parents in class. Our Family Fun Days do provide awesome activities for all of the kids three times per year!

VELA works with families with various special needs. Many of our families have autism, down syndrome, cerebral palsy, ADHD, intellectual disability, speech and language disorders among others.

Since VELA focused on working with the parent of the child with special needs, we do not have age limits, however most of our families have children ages 0-18. If you need services for 18+, we will work to connect you to agencies that serve adults with disabilities.

VELA is a bilingual and bicultural agency (English and Spanish). To account for language and culture, all of our programming is offered in English or Spanish separately.

VELA is a public nonprofit organization; we are not a part of any school district. We do however work in close partnership with 10 surrounding school districts in an effort to create a bridge between parents and their schools.

All of VELA's programming is free of charge for parents, regardless of income. We do not require that families show any proof of income or any other additional documentation to participate.

Yes. In addition to our programming in our East Austin location, VELA partners with multiple districts and healthcare facilities to bring our programming to the community. If you work with families that have children with special needs, we can offer our workshops at your location!

No. We do not travel to families' home- all of our services are provided either at our East Austin location or in partnership with a school or healthcare facility.

No. Our mission is to empower, coach and prepare families to become their child's greatest experts because they will be the ones doing this for the long run. If a family does need specialized support for their ARD meeting, we can help connect them to the appropriate resource.

Yes. Just make sure to let us know why you want them to receive this service when you complete our referral form.

No. Many times families are in the middle of trying to access an evaluation or receive confirmation of a diagnosis and we can provide support in completing that process.

No we do not provide transportation to our East Austin location. We do however work closely with schools and clinics to bring our workshops to you- let us know if we can set something up!

VELA is open to any family of a child with special needs that can 1) Access services in our East Austin location 2) Attend our off site trainings in other parts of Austin and aurrounding areas.

Services are provided free of charge for families.