ORLANDO, Fla. — October marks National Disability Employment Awareness Month, celebrating the contributions of people with disabilities to our workplaces and economy.

This is also the 50th anniversary of the the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the first federal legislation to prohibit discrimination and address access and equity for people with disabilities.

One of the biggest issues with accessing employment today has to do with driving and the challenges that come with it when living with a disability.

A Central Florida woman says getting back behind the wheel has changed her life, and she hopes others have the chance to experience the same.

“It's cool to be able to do it again," said Willow Adler. “It is just one of those things that when something becomes accessible again, you get excited to do simple things like getting gas."

It is something she hasn’t been able to do for the last eight years, since she started using a wheelchair due to multiple conditions including Ehlers Danlos syndrome. It's a genetic condition that makes your body's connective tissue weaker than it should be.

“All of those processes that your body does without you thinking, mine doesn't do it, so temperature regulation, blood pressure, heart rate,” said Adler.

It has kept her off the road and out of a job since 2016, but this year, all that is changing. Thanks to some of her new mobility devices, she’s finally back behind the wheel.

“It's been a very long and slow process, but we are finally here and once you get here it like changes everything."

In her wheelchair accessible van, she can now drive using a special spinner knob and hand control, which allows her to break and control her blinkers and headlights.

“Like I kind of forget that there are pedals down there,” said Adler.

Being able to stay in her wheelchair and drive has allowed her to start a job at Disney, which she feels lucky to have.

“Many disabled people can’t even afford to go back to work because we live well below the poverty line and a lot of them need, like I needed this van to go to work. But you also have to have the money to buy the van to go to work and that is what people don't have access to, so I am really, really grateful that we did," said Adler. 

Adler explained that the journey took years. First, she had to open a case with Vocational Rehab through Florida’s Department of Education. They then connected her to The Neuro Hub, a local rehab facility that tested her reflexes and taught her to drive with hand controls in one of their accessible vans.

“It is ingrained in your head if you need to slam on the breaks , your foot goes there in two seconds and you're good. With this, it's your arm instead so you have to get used to slamming on the breaks,” said Adler. 

While Vocational Rehab paid for that and the modifications to her van, she still needed to wait until she could purchase the van, and she needed her mom's help.

“It costs to be disabled and people don't have access to what they need because of that,” said Adler.

All that is left is her driver's test, which she booked and has been waiting six months for. Luckily, she is still able to drive herself to work in the mean time. 

“The independence that I have gotten from this, it has just made my whole world more accessible than it was before,”  said Adler. 

While she is relived that the process is almost over, she hopes more people realize what it takes for a disabled person to become self reliant.

“We are intelligent people who can sometimes hold jobs and who have value as a person, we are not an invalid and we don't want to be infantilized. Just making the world more accessible, that is what gives us the ability to function independently.”