People with disabilities have proven to be among history’s most effective and influential innovators. The reason? They innovate every day to adapt to an inaccessible world not designed to accommodate their physical, mental, or emotional needs. By its very nature, living with a disability necessitates innovation.

Innovation, in turn, is the engine that drives our progress as a society forward. When done right, it creates things that bring value to our lives and communities’ day after day.

Some of the most transformative ideas and enduring products ever innovated came from persons with disabilities. Consider cruise control in vehicles, the text function or touch features on mobile phones, the electric toothbrush, and the internet.

Fueled by a desire to be more fully included in society, the innovators behind these products have transformed and improved the lives of virtually every person on the planet.

Each innovation quickly found its way to mainstream acceptance, enjoying widespread commercial success and fostering a positive change in how billions of people work and live — regardless of disability status.

That positive change, in turn, added value to all our lives. We are healthier and more productive. Our work is done better, and we learn faster. The way that we communicate and form communities is more productive. We can go places and do things not even imaginable to past generations.