About

Mark is sitting in his wheelchair with his FreeWheel attached at Joshua Tree National Park. He is wearing a black hat, a navy blue Abilitease logo hoodie, and blue shorts.

My name is Mark Fuglevand and I am the Founder of Abilitease Adaptive. In 1995 at the age of 18 I had a diving accident at a beach in Southern California. As a result of the accident I broke my neck and became a C6 Incomplete Quadriplegic due to a spinal cord injury. 

In 2013 I created the company Abilitease with the vision of designing product solutions for individuals with disabilities. I wanted to make products that not only helped people be more independent, but I wanted to make them appealing and not institutional looking. Trying to generate proofs of concept was costly so I soon turned Abilitease into a YouTube channel. The channel became an advocacy platform for those affected by a spinal cord injury.   

In 2019 I purchased a 3D printer on Black Friday in the hope of introducing this printing technology to my children. During quarantine I joined a maker group in Long Beach, California and we made faceshield components for frontline healthcare workers. It was after this experience that I decided I wanted to learn computer-aided design (CAD) and create my own prototypes for different adaptive solutions. 

While I was home I watched YouTube videos to learn CAD and practiced drawing different structures in my Fusion 360 software. After weeks of practice using the different tools in the software I started making my own prototypes. Once I got comfortable I started sharing some of my designs on Instagram and Facebook. The positive feedback from individuals within the disabled community was overwhelming and it validated the direction I was going.

On August 21, 2022, my injury anniversary date, we officially launched the Abilitease Adaptive online store. With this online store my goal is to get more of these adaptive tools out to the individuals who need them all over the world. There is a large underserved community that wants to live a more full and independent life and they need access to these tools. 

Our mission is to continue to innovate and create opportunities to improve the quality of life of people all over through adaptive design. 

Thank you for joining us on this journey!