My Story
Born fighting for my life, and chasing my dreams ever since.
My wheelchair didn't stop me from seeing the world. If anything, it gave me a different way of looking at it.
Born in El Salvador
I was born with a lack of oxygen to the brain and almost didn't make it. Because of that, I can't walk and I have limited use of my arms, but I've never been good at sitting still with the word "can't."
The school mascot
I spent nine years at the same school and somewhere along the way I became its mascot. I traveled with the team to international sports competitions in Peru and Guatemala, and got to see places like Antigua and Machu Picchu.
Moving to New York
In ninth grade my family moved to New York. We landed the night before Thanksgiving. It was freezing, the culture was new, and English wasn't my first language. I was the only one of my brothers to pass the ESL exam.
High school graduation
At my new school there were other students in wheelchairs, so for once I wasn't "the kid in the wheelchair", I was just another student. I graduated with a local diploma in June 2013.
Bachelor's degree
I earned an associate's in Internet and Information Technology at Queensborough Community College, and then a bachelor's in Computer Systems Technology at NYC College of Technology in June 2023.
My story isn't really about what I can't do. It's about what's still possible when I keep going anyway.
My parents
Raul & Debbie.
When I was born, the doctors gave my parents a long list of things I probably wouldn't do. Mom and Dad didn't pay much attention to that list. They paid attention to me. They raised a son, not a diagnosis. They learned how to lift me, how to read my face when the words wouldn't come, and how to sit through the long hospital nights. Somehow, in the middle of all of it, they made my childhood feel normal, full of laughter, music, and Sunday dinners where I sat at the head of the table. My dad is the steady one, quiet, present, always close by. My mom is the one who goes to bat for me, with schools, with doctors, with anyone who tries to make my world smaller. They put me on planes, pushed my chair down cobblestone streets, and got me into pools and oceans in places people said I'd never see. They never treated me like I was fragile. Mom, Dad, pretty much everything good in me started with you two. I love you. ❤️❤️
My brothers
Marcelo, Sebastian & Diego.
Marcelo, Sebastian, and Diego, my brothers, and a big part of why I'm still standing. Growing up in a wheelchair could have been lonely. It wasn't, because of them. They slowed down when I couldn't keep up, carried me up stairs without making a thing of it, and showed up everywhere, hospitals, school, parties, without anyone having to ask. They've never treated my disability like a problem to manage. To them I'm just Raul: the older brother they joke with, argue with, and trust with the real stuff. The wheelchair is just the chair. Thank you for every push, every lift, every inside joke. I love you three. ❤️❤️❤️
Communication
My voice, in every form it takes.
My voice first
I've always used my own voice as my main way to communicate.
AAC device
I got my first augmentative and alternative communication device in New York in 1998.
Patience helps
My speech isn't always easy to understand, but I have plenty to say.
I've always used my own voice as my main way to communicate. Because of my physical limitations, I don't speak as clearly as most people. When my family and I moved to New York for two years in 1998, I got my first augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device. After learning how to use it in New York, I took it back to El Salvador with me.
But I didn't stop there.