When Sandy Nielson's 5-year-old daughter was shot through the neck in a hunting accident, it was the beginning of a long struggle for the Delta woman.

It was more than a bullet rendering Jamie Moore with quadriplegia, zapping all movement in her limbs with the exception of her right wrist.

It was more than being a farmer's wife with seven other children at home to look after.

The struggle was entrenched in geography, with distance and isolation serving as the barrier to services her daughter so desperately needed.

"The challenges are great in the rural areas," Nielson said. "As hard as it is for a person with a disability in the urban area, it is many times harder in the rurals because there just aren't the same services."

When Nielson is asked to describe the availability of public transportation while her daughter was growing up, her response is quick.

"There's none."

Home health care?

None.

Automatic doors at schools for people with disabilities?

Not until Nielson waged her battle, going to the school district and insisting on accommodations for her daughter.

The result?

Jamie was provided with a sort of "garage door-style opener" to open the school doors so she could come and go in her wheelchair without the assistance of others.

The other result?

Nielson received a telephone call at home from a school official, who she said told her, "I just want you to know how much money this is costing us."

"The hair on my head just stood up. I will never stop advocating for kids with disabilities. And I told him this wasn't just for Jamie. When she leaves the school, there will be other kids who use it."

Across the state, there are 376,000 people with disabilities, according to numbers provided by the Disability Law Center. While the Wasatch Front has a network of providers and support systems in place to make services accessible, the same is often not true for rural areas, which suffer from lack of transportation, lack of coordinated support and buildings and sidewalks that are inaccessible. People with disabilities often face barriers when it comes to employment and getting an education. They also frequently encounter discrimination, especially if mental-health issues are involved.

To that end, the Disability Law Center launched its ambitious "Listen and Learn Tour," this year. The tour has held meetings in 19 rural counties so far — from Randolph in the north to La Verkin in the south.

Center director Fraser Nelson said discrimination against people with disabilities has become the last acceptable marginalization of a whole segment of society — a marginalization often compounded in rural areas.