Excerpted from Business Week Diversity October 2, 2009, 1:18PM EST

By Ralph Braun*

Sometimes employers hesitate to hire an adult with a disability because of a misguided sense that the person may not be able to handle the job when the going gets tough. I've used a wheelchair for most of my life, and I would argue that people with disabilities are in fact better equipped for acute problem-solving than their peers without disabilities. That's mainly because we're experts in finding creative ways to perform tasks that others may take for granted.

My own company, BraunAbility, started as a solution to a problem I faced when my employer relocated and I had to find my own transportation. It wasn't long before I quit my job to focus full time on the growing demand for products such as wheelchair-accessible minivans. The fact is, employees with disabilities can do for your business what they've done for themselves: Move it forward, one step (or wheel turn) at a time.

*Ralph Braun is CEO of BraunAbility in Winamac, Ind.