Haz Crawford
Kia Ora! My name is Haz Crawford, I am 25 years of age and I am an aspiring artist and the person behind Colour Spectrum, an art exhibition for autistic artists that I have now done twice over the last several years. This is my first time exhibiting work of my own here at the Easter Show and I’m really excited to see what you think of it? I was diagnosed with Autism at 18 months of age and it makes up a huge part of the person that I am!
I am a jack of all trades and known for doing all sorts of things with my life. From mental challenges like playing for the New Zealand Mini Golf Federation to more physical encounters like Round the Bays and even life-changing experiences such as the Spirit of Adventure. Before even turning 25, I have done almost anything you can achieve at any point in your life and that most don’t do until they’re much older. I have both my bronze and silver Duke of Edinburgh where I have taken on a whole bunch of other activities like volunteering at Everybody Eats as the resident food rescuer to even stepping outside my comfort zone by creating more advanced art pieces at my local Mens Shed. Ask me anything and I’ll tell you all about it.
One of the bigger challenges I have taken on in my life so far is playing golf for Special Olympics New Zealand (SONZ). During this time, I have been lucky enough to be apart of several committees and higher up roles, doing a lot of volunteering for them and most impressively, representing them at Outward Bound alongside 11 other amazing SONZ athletes from all across Aotearoa. My piece combines these two things I have taken part in to create something I have learnt about myself and plan on taking with me for the rest of my life. It’s called F.A.I.L, which in Outward Bound terms, stands for “First Attempt InLearning”. This is a key saying that I hold really close to my heart knowing that if something doesn't go my way, at the very least I know that I tried and can always try again. When you combine that with the fact that I decided to leave last year because of the toll the sport of golf was taking on me mentally, I feel the exact same way as described above.
