Cheryl Hill, who is a full time carer for her son Mark, said something as simple as having a blender in a cafe could make life easier for him. Mark suffers from Lennox–Gastaut syndrome which involves uncontrolled epilepsy, cerebral palsy and an intellectual delay.

“Disability is such a broad thing. We tend to put it all into one category, but it’s not. People have such broad needs,” she said. 

“It should be ensured that everybody, whatever their abilities, can get to where they need to go - and not through the back door,” Nancy Bailey said, pushing for more local shops to become wheelchair accessible.

Nancy’s son Josh has autism, and she said that what she would most like to see is people with disabilities given visible roles in Inverell businesses and clubs. 

“We need to be able to see these people come out of the woodwork. People with disabilities tend to be out of sight, almost hidden away. They need to be brought out into the world of real people,” she said.

She encouraged local businesses to give the disabled community work experience. 

“I just think that that the town of Inverell needs to invite people of various abilities into joining into the town, to come out and be seen in our businesses and coffee shops and companies,” she said.

“If disabled people feel they’re a cog in the wheel, there’s a great increase in self esteem, and then you lose the ‘dis’. So they’re no longer disabled, they’re abled.”

Cheryl said more wheelchair ramps, wider doorways and hallways wouldn’t go amiss and recommended handrails near toilets and stairs.

She also advocated for increased disabled parking and shopping trolleys designed for disabled children.

Inverell Shire Council is currently working on a Inclusion (Disability) Action Plan, and will be influenced by community submissions that were made last month.