Salal

LET’S facilitated a workshop for Salal as part of their training for crisis line volunteers, with a focus on disability justice, neurodivergence, and trauma-aware support. Volunteers were invited to think critically about how ableism and sanism show up in crisis work, from assumptions about what “crisis” looks like to expectations around communication, tone, and emotional expression. We discussed how disabled, Mad, and neurodivergent callers may present differently – and how to respond in ways that are grounded in consent, respect, and belief.

The workshop emphasized listening without pathologizing, avoiding assumptions about capacity or risk, and recognizing the cumulative impact of systemic barriers on people reaching out for support. The goal was to equip folks with tools that honour the realities of the people calling in, rather than expecting everyone to fit a narrow script of how crisis should look or sound.