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Reinventing the Wheel

Thursday, February 18, 2016 at 6:00pm to 8:00pm

William W. Knight Law Center, Room 175
1515 Agate Street, Eugene, OR 97403

Join us for a night of fun, education, and inclusion as the AccessABILITY Student Union has invited Reveca Torres of Backbones to campus to speak about life with a spinal cord injury. She is bringing with her the exhibit Reinventing the Wheel, which features 21 stories of other folks who are wheelchair users, including both images and text biographies.

Prior to Reveca's talk, the Accessible Education Center, Disability Studies Initiative, and other groups will present on the work they do on campus and other current initiatives.

After sharing her story, A.S.U.O. representatives will debut the accessibility resources brochure created for the 2016-2017 school year, as well as other accessibility initiatives both the A.S.U.O. Senate and Executive have been working on this year. The night will conclude with talks from different accessibility resources on campus who are featured in the brochure.

This event is open to the public, and will feature closed captioning, interpreters, and audio devices. If there is an accessibility requirement you want to ensure is going to be available at the event, or you have any other questions, please email asuoaca@uoregon.edu.

Thank you to our co-sponsors from: AccessABILITY Student Union, ASUO Executive, ASUO Senate, Multicultural Center, Performance Mobility, Backbones, Accessible Education Center, the Erb Memorial Union, Disability Studies, Student Support Services, and the Knight Law School.

Learn more about Reveca in her biography from Backbones below.

"While on a family vacation in Mexico, Reveca fractured her spinal cord in an automobile accident and was paralyzed. At the moment of the accident she immediately knew something was wrong when she couldn’t move. It was awhile before someone was able to help the Torres family to the nearest medical facility. Once the family realized Reveca had injured her spine, it was obvious her medical needs would be extensive and arrangements were made to have her transferred to the nearest medical center in Texas. After weeks in Intensive Care and surgery, she was stable enough to return to Chicago. Having an incomplete injury and with no guarantee as to how her body would recover, she spent the next three months at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago relearning activities of daily life and adjusting to a wheelchair.

Reveca finished high school and started college unsure if she could physically pursue the career she had always dreamed of: fashion design. With a few adaptations, she was the first student using a wheelchair to complete the fashion degree at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois, where she featured collections and was a representative and finalist at the Fashion Group International (FGI) Costume Design Competition. She continued her studies in Theater Arts at the University of Arizona (UA).

It was at the UA where Reveca met others with spinal cord injuries and became interested in adaptive sports and fitness. Upon returning to Chicago, she noticed the lack of fitness opportunities for people with disabilities in the area and decided to change it. Reveca has worked with Shriners Hospital for Children, Mobility International USA (MIUSA), Athletico Fitness and Performance, and the University of Illinois (UIC) at Chicago’s National Center for Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD). With their help she has been able to provide resources on recreation, disability rights, college, travel, employment, and fitness to people with disabilities, specifically teenagers.

Reveca stays active and healthy by following a fitness routine and practicing yoga. She loves shoes and music festivals. Whether it’s surfing in California, scuba diving in the Bahamas, cleaning beaches in Costa Rica, attending fashion shows in Paris, or coming up with ideas for BACKBONES, Reveca loves to try new things and encourages others to do what they love too!" http://backbonesonline.com/?page_id=73