Krystian Shaw and Giving Back: Promoting Community Inclusion and All Abilities

By Amy KD Tobik, BA

Krystian Shaw: Publisher/Owner of the Kamloops Self Advocate Newsletter, Self-Advocate

Krystian Shaw was born with an intellectual disability and was never expected to read or write. His determination is an inspiration as he is the passionate publisher of a 12-page newsletter he distributes in Kamloops, B.C. and online. The newsletter is his gift back to the community for all the support he has in his life. Krystian shared the motivation behind his work and mission with Exceptional Needs Today Editor-in-Chief Amy KD Tobik.

What inspired the launch of Kamloops’s Self Advocate Newsletter?

Krystian: Different support services supported me, and I wanted to support people too in my own way.

What is your mission?

Krystian: We promote community inclusion, including ideas like social justice, social inclusion, kindness and compassion, anti-bullying, mental health issues, and all disabilities. We promote success stories about the challenges that many face. Instead of focusing on a label, we like to refer to the idea of diverse abilities. We promote entertainment, lifestyle issues, and community events. We also promote the idea of reducing stigma and discrimination, preferring to stomp it out completely.

Our goal is to spread awareness about what people with different abilities can do, not what we can’t do. We highlight different themes in the newsletter and include ideas about different topics every month. Recreation and leisure are important to us, as well as social issues that affect our diverse communities, including Indigenous people as well as the LGBTQ+ community. We also promote different causes and things happening in the disability field.

Your newsletter contains a variety of articles, from interviews and success stories to entertainment and community events. What are your favorite topics?

Krystian: My favorite topics are interviewing singers and songwriters. I have interviewed reality TV stars with Down syndrome from a show called Born This Way. I have even interviewed autism comics and mental health comics, and many more.

What’s the kindest thing a stranger has said about your work?

Krystian: They love my newsletter.

The name of this column is Positive Voices. How are you a positive voice in the community?

Krystian: I promote all different kinds of social issues, including disability awareness topics.

What would you say are the major challenges affecting people with diverse abilities today?

Krystian: Stigma, discrimination, stereotypes, and myths about living with diverse abilities.

What’s something you wish more people talked about regarding different abilities?

Krystian: Mental health awareness and different social issues, including LGBTQ+ and disability topics.

Is there a person who has made a big impact on your life? How?

Krystian: Justine Richmond from the Community Companion program helped me start the newsletter and taught me how to run my own newsletter so I could be independent. She went above and beyond her program and taught me how to do it; now she only edits with me for free. I am thankful for her help and guidance. The Community Companion program is a peer support program for those with developmental disabilities in Kamloops. I get support from here. Their website is www. nhclss.ca/community-companion-program/.

Please tell us a little about yourself. What makes you Krystian?

Krystian: I love country and most kinds of music. I love helping people out like myself. I have mild intellectual disabilities as well as an anxiety disorder. I wanted to support people with diverse abilities in any way I could; that’s the main reason I started the newsletter. I couldn’t go to university to get a college degree in the disability field because I need minimal support myself. I got lots of different supports in my life as a kid, and now as an adult, I wanted to return the favor and support people too. I wanted to give back to society for all the support I got in my life.

Do you have any outside hobbies or activities?

Krystian: Listening to YouTube music videos, Disney Plus, watching Home Alone, and other movies. I am a big fan of Christmas movies, musicals, and documentaries.

How can people access your free publication and resources?

Krystian: They can visit issuu.com/thekamloopsselfadvocate

Website: ksanews.ca

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheKamloopsSelfAdvocateisgoingglobal

Resources: Shaw Spotlight www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEaObbdhi5c

BC Disability https://www.bcdisability.com/post/krystian-shaw

AccessibleEmployers.ca https://accessibleemployers.ca/member/the-kamloops-self-advocate-newsletter/

Amy KD Tobik, BA, is the Editor-in-Chief of Exceptional Needs Today magazine. She coordinates and directs an impressive group of doctors, therapists, and writers to provide expert guidance and support for special needs families. A graduate of Sweet Briar College in VA, Amy’s experience includes more than 30 years of writing/editing monthly magazines, newspapers, technical documents/ manuals, books, and websites. Her special interests include advocating for children, special needs families, and education. She is the CEO of Lone Heron Publishing, LLC.

Website: exceptionalneedstoday.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/amy-kd-tobik-a8b05bb