Rachel Wells, M.Ed. CCC-SLP

Hi, I'm Rachel! I've been a pediatric speech-language pathologist for eleven years, practicing in a variety of settings from the Southeast to the Pacific Northwest, from home-based services to private clinics to the public schools.  I started Westbound Speech because I wanted to create a place for children to thrive through child-led, family-centered practices with a strong emphasis on supporting neurodivergent communicators.

I work with children of all ages, from infancy to young adulthood, and I have years of experience providing speech therapy to address expressive and receptive language, articulation and phonology, apraxia of speech, and assistive & augmentative communication (AAC).  As a mom of littles myself, early intervention has a special place in my heart, but I also absolutely love working with older learners - especially those who haven't made much progress with outdated speech therapy approaches.  For this reason, I've developed specializations in executive functioning, gestalt language processing, and difficult-to-remediate speech sounds. I also have extensive experience with childhood apraxia of speech.

I fell in love with speech-language pathology early, earning both my undergraduate and graduate degrees in the field. I hold the Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, am a licensed provider in Washington State, and have built on my knowledge and skills with my love of ongoing education.  I am committed to providing services that are neurodiversity- and gender-affirming from a multiculturally humble place.

In addition to being a speech therapist and small business owner, I'm a distance runner and aspiring gardener.  I love the Pacific Northwest and can cheer my kids on at a rainy Saturday morning soccer game with the best of them.  In my free time, I love coffee, curling up with a good book, and spontaneous adventures.