Peer & Family Support Program Spotlight: Luna Fera

Twenty-one-year-old Luna Fera wants to help change the perception of disability.

“It is the largest overlooked group and often the most silenced and forgotten,” says Fera. “It is also the only group anyone can join at any time. My goal is for disability to be part of everyone’s lexicon, so it doesn’t elicit a reaction.”

Fera sustained a traumatic brain injury and T10-T12 incomplete injury in a 2012 car accident at age eight. She was in a coma for a month and a half and had to relearn everything from speaking to self-care.

“I had an ableist mindset when I was young,” says Fera. “I was the only one in my school and community with a disability, and I didn’t want to identify with it. Something shifted in me as I got older. Once I opened myself to the disability community, it was like, ah, here are my people.”

One of the strongest influences for Fera has been her 10 years at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore.

“They saw something in me and gave me the opportunity to engage with people who taught me how to be an advocate,” says Fera, who has met with former Maryland governor Larry Hogan and U.S. Senatorial aides on Capitol Hill to advocate for disability legislation.

“In high school, I began to notice the isolation, ignorance and lack of wheelchair etiquette around me, not just for me but for others in the community,” says Fera. She worked to raise awareness through high school presentations and writing blogs and poems for SPINALpedia.com about navigating teenage challenges with a disability.

In 2022, at 18, Fera became one of the first teen and young adult mentors for the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation’s Peer & Family Support Program. She has connected with five peers, including an 18-year-old she has spoken with for over a year and a 16-year-old.

“I want to hold space for them. I let them know it’s ok not to be ok. Life is like that,” says Fera. “It’s not all sunshine and rainbows; when they need it, I’m here to support them.”

One of Fera’s peers is starting the college search process, and Fera shared her experience working with an accessible college counselor she found through the Reeve Foundation.

“We talk about what college life is like while living with a disability,” says Fera, who is a junior at the University of Oregon majoring in psychology with a minor in disability studies. “I’ve shared some of the looks and comments I get — some make for a fun story like when another student ran across the street and up a hill just to ask if I needed help pushing my wheelchair. God forbid, a disabled girl take a water break.”

Fera also helps support her peers through the difficult social interactions of their high school years.

“I hope to teach them self-advocacy skills and how to navigate the isolation and feelings of low self-worth that can be so draining,” says Fera. “When they have a problem, I acknowledge and validate their feelings, then I ask, ‘What are you going to do about it now?’ I get it; I actually get it because I’ve been there, too.”

She also suggests strategies for time management and how to account for the last-minute needs that inevitably arise when living with a disability.

“It is cathartic because I didn’t have access to help myself, and I’m happy to offer it to others,” says Fera. “I’m excited to celebrate a fellow disabled person’s success. It is a growth experience for me to learn how to be that support person.”

Fera continues, “It is my goal to support my peers while helping them navigate a world that doesn’t accommodate them; rather, we accommodate the world. I hope to continue working with the Reeve Foundation to change the way the world views our community.”

The Peer & Family Support Program provides mentoring to people with paralysis and their family members/caregivers. Connect with a mentor here.

Photo by the Daily Emerald and Molly McPherson.