City of Vancouver

LET’S delivered a Disability Awareness workshop for staff from the City of Vancouver, focused on shifting away from deficit-based views and toward disability justice, equity, and access as shared responsibilities. Participants explored how disability, neurodivergence, and chronic illness show up in their work and in community, and how municipal policies, programs, and everyday interactions can either create barriers or open doors. The session blended foundational concepts with real-life examples and small-group discussions about how to respond to access needs in respectful, consent-based ways.

Feedback from the workshop was overwhelmingly positive, with 100% of respondents indicating they were very satisfied. 1 participant reflected that “the session was excellent. Breakout groups were very enlightening – that even though someone is not officially diagnosed they too need to be respected and understood, not told they are bad or that something is wrong with them.” Another wrote, “It is about time that we recognize that different is good, different results in better solutions, different is fun, different makes the world a more interesting place. If we were all the same how boring would that be. Stand up and be proud because we all deserve to be treated as valuable human beings… not human doings.”

Participants also called for this content to be embedded more deeply in leadership training, with one person noting, “This session was excellent and should be mandatory for all managers. We need people to be more curious and understanding and less judgey. Why isn’t this a core leadership competency?” The workshop is 1 step in ongoing efforts to embed disability justice and access into the City’s culture and practice.