By: Ambassador Susan E. Rice, White House Domestic Policy Advisor

After the accident, Tyree Brown could barely write her own name. The 2015 car crash injured her spine and rendered the 26-year-old Maryland artist quadriplegic, paralyzing parts of her upper and lower body. Lengthy stints in rehab and a nursing home followed, coupled with painstaking occupational therapy. Beautiful portraits that had once taken Tyree five days to draw can now take her up to a month.

Yet, earlier this week, I marveled as Tyree shared with me her remarkable black-and-white drawings. Inspired, I watched Monday as she was wheeled to a low table in the White House Rose Garden and confidently introduced the President of the United States.

On the 31st anniversary of the signing of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Tyree gave voice to the millions of Americans living, and often thriving, with a disability.

Read the full oped here.

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