Holder of a PhD in Speech & Hearing Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana‑Champaign (2018) and a Master’s in Biomedical Sciences (Neuroscience) from Universidad de Chile (2012), Dr. Vidal Velasco graduated as a Speech‑Language Pathologist from Universidad de Chile in 2008. She currently serves as a full‑time Assistant Professor in the School of Speech‑Language Pathology and the Public Health & Epidemiology Department within the Faculty of Medicine at Universidad de los Andes. She is also the editor of the “Child Communication and Language” section in the Revista Chilena de Fonoaudiología since 2021.

Her research focuses on characterizing autistic preschool and minimally verbal children using new objective measures to contribute towards early diagnosis and socio‑ecological inclusion frameworks. She is the principal investigator of projects such as the FONDECYT Early‑Career grant “Exploring New Objective Measures to Characterize Verbal and Minimally Verbal Preschoolers on the Autism Spectrum” and a project analyzing speech acoustic patterns in autistic children as potential early markers.

Recent publications include critical discourse analysis on autism terminology, models for fostering inclusive school cultures, and integrating exposome and One‑Health approaches for public health surveillance in Latin America.

She delivers undergraduate and graduate courses including Oral Development in Early Years, Family and School Contexts of the Student, and Qualitative Scientific Method for Public Health. Her teaching merges applied research, qualitative methods, and inclusive perspectives to foster transformative learning in diverse educational settings.

Dr. Vidal Velasco is also involved in postgraduate initiatives addressing neurodiversity and community inclusion, such as the course “Community Inclusion and Neurodivergences: the Role of Family, Agents & Organizations”. Her editorial role in the Revista Chilena de Fonoaudiología further supports academic discourse on child communication and language development.