#302 Finding Your Tribe After Spinal Cord Injury and the Power of Disability Culture

Finding Your Tribe After Spinal Cord Injury and the Power of Disability Experience for All

Louise sits down with Reveca Torres, an artist, filmmaker, and the executive director of Backbones, a nonprofit connecting people with spinal cord injuries to their communities. Reveca shares the story of her injury at age thirteen during a family car accident in Mexico and the unexpected isolation she felt despite having a large, supportive family. She opens up about the pressure to mask her negative emotions to protect her loved ones and the profound shift that occurred when she finally connected with peers who shared her lived experience. This realization led her to found Backbones, creating a vital network of peer support that she herself once needed. The conversation explores Reveca's groundbreaking work at the intersection of disability and art, including her journey to becoming the first wheelchair user to earn a fashion design degree at Harper College. She discusses her Tres Fridas project, which reimagines historical artists through a disability lens, and her upcoming film, While We Are Here. Through her art and advocacy, Reveca proves that disability is not a deficit but a vital part of the human experience with a benefit for our Oneness.

#BeginAgain #HopeforEverything

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Resources

Learn more about Reinventing the Wheel: http://vmuseum.com/rtw/

Backbones: https://www.backbonesonline.org/about-us

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BLINK of an Eye® Podcast is sponsored by BLINK of an Eye® Non-Profit:

A non-profit which is an essential national resource for Spinal Cord Injury, originating the first SCI Navigator Program in the country for newly injured SCI Families by SCI Families as an essential national resource for Spinal Cord Injured families in the first days, weeks and months of SCI crisis when life turns upside down and few medical teams in the US have SCI expertise or lived experience. They bring essential support, connections, life expertise and resources. BLINK of an Eye non profit deploys a rapid response HEAL Team for ICU bedside support to create an Extraordinary Experience despite the devastation for SCI families and a personal SCI Navigator for 24/7 support in the first 90 days and throughout the Miracle Year. BLINK of an Eye non profit also provides a Multidisciplinary Wrap Around Team and SCI Expert Medical Panel. Stay tuned for their launch of a National Digital Resource Library, the SCI PLAYBOOK, chocked full of essential SCI information and trauma informed responses for the first hours, days and months after injury. To find out more, get involved, or make a donation, visit www.BLINKofaneye.org.

Blink of an Eye is sponsored by Baltimore Mediation:

To find out more about cutting edge conflict transformation skills courses to learn relational conflict theory and advocacy, mediation interventions and support for leaders and anyone navigating or facilitating difficult situations, conflict, or trauma, visit the website www.BaltimoreMediation.com and register for nationally certified 40 hour courses, including the Enneagram of personality for mediators to know themselves to stay neutral while offering opportunity for other’s empowerment.

To find out more about Louise visit: www.BlinkofanEye.org, www.BaltimoreMediation.com, www.BeingRelational.com