A photographic-based menu at Springwood Sports Club specially designed for member Tim Smyth is enabling him and other people with high support needs to order a meal independently for the first time.
Tim, 25, lives with Down Syndrome and has minimal language use, difficulty with reading and is non-verbal in communication.
With funding from the National Disability Insurance Scheme NSW trial site project, Tim's occupational therapy-trained companion Fiona MacLeod implemented the special menu with the help of the club's head chef Brendan Nicholson.
The Gazette watched Tim use it at the club's restaurant recently with great success. The normally shy young man wore a beaming smile when asked what his favourite dish was.
Pointing to pictures on the menu and nodding his head, it was clear Tim likes schnitzel with Asian slaw and chips best, closely followed by steak burgers and chicken parmigiana with eggplant.
His mum, Carol, said: "I can really see it's changed the way people interact with Tim at the club. It means Tim becomes the centre when it comes to ordering his food rather than the support person and that's given him more independence and led to further interactions.
"Lately he's invited a few friends for a meal there, so the menu is also helpful for them.
"We know it's working because Tim is now ordering things we didn't know he ever liked.
"The club has been incredibly helpful and the staff so supportive."
Ms MacLeod said she can now "just sit back and let Tim order whatever he likes by himself. It's great for him to understand what he is ordering and to see how proud he is about that."
"You can definitely see he is enjoying himself when he orders - he smiles and he is really pleased with the independence he's got from that."
Mr Nicholson said a photo menu was something he'd never really considered before, "but I just thought yes, that idea makes complete sense.
"I'm really happy with the way it has turned out and actually seeing Tim use it," he said.