Nelson Gonzalez
SCI Ambassador
Role
Occupational Therapist and Executive Director at Rehab Without Walls
Location
Florida
Fun Facts

Nelson has a large loving family (wife, 5 siblings, 3 children and 15 nieces/nephews). If Nelson wasn’t so busy with family, work, and staying physically fit, there is a very good possibly you would catch him at a drum circle!

Nelson has been an occupational therapist (OT) since 2004. In his time, he has gathered several certifications and formed many affiliations with prominent therapy organizations that focus on spinal cord injury (SCI) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). As a therapy leader and clinician, Nelson has helped restore function to clients who have disabilities following disease or profound injuries like SCI and TBI among many others. Nelson serves as the executive director of Rehab Without Walls NeuroSolutions in Florida. He has been a strong advocate for the value of rehab professionals’ role in a patient’s journey to accomplishing skills needed for life as well as using evidence-based practice to support their role.

Why does Nelson want to be an ambassador?

Nelson loves to share high quality research-based resources like the ones produced by the MSKTC that he believes in. Nelson points out that there is so much room for improvement in the services provided for people with disabilities, particularly in Florida with the lack of adaptive beaches and home & community based services. By being an ambassador, he shares the free research-based MSKTC resources with patients and clinicians to help achieve better rehabilitation outcomes. 

What has Nelson done as an ambassador?

Nelson has used MSKTC’s resources to educate his staff at Rehab Without Walls in Florida whom he oversees so they can in turn educate patients/clients as well as family members and caregivers. Nelson hopes to use the reach of his national company to spread the word on MSKTC’s resources by posting MSKTC resources on the intranet page for all staff working for Rehab Without Walls.