The puzzle piece... An appropriate symbol of autism?

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If I understand right, the puzzle piece was "invented" as a symbol for autism by Autism Speaks, which many feel has had too much to say on our behalf without checking with us.

I've been looking at some t-shirts available online that say things like "I'm not broken. I'm autistic." and "Autism: Seeing the world from a different angle".

Thing is, a lot of these use the puzzle piece symbol in their design. How you do feel about wearing something that uses that symbol in representing autism? I'm just not sure I want that on a shirt I'm wearing, but I do want to buy a shirt that says something appropriate about autism.

Comments, anyone?

I think the TEC-9 would be a good autism logo

Come on, guys. I don't know if you're NTs who are trolling here, or what.

This is a serious question. Please don't turn this into a joke thread.

Oh...


SaveFerris?


"Message to mods , if you remove one of my posts because you think it's derailment you are discriminating against my disorder as my ASD report says I do this."

Our autism isn't an excuse for just anything we feel like doing, so removing your posts when you're disrupting a thread isn't discrimination against you. It's putting a stop to the disturbance you're causing, which you don't have the right to cause. Other people have rights too.

The rest of us are not here to be toys for you to play with.

I have my issues with autism speaks, but I like the puzzle piece as symbol of autism, because, it implies humanity is incomplete without us, and vise versa.

I like the idea of a tapestry of interlocking puzzle pieces in a rainbow of colours. It shows that autism is a spectrum and we're each very different from each other.

I hate THE puzzle piece! Using the color blue and images of depressed and hunched-over stick people are also horrible.

I feel guilty now just for liking the color blue.

I never liked to wear clothes with any kind of message or insignia on them, either before or after I was diagnosed. As the previous posts (and threads on this subject) have demonstrated, just because a symbol has been designed with a certain meaning in mind, it doesn't guarantee that it will always be interpreted that way. As someone who once worked designing icons for computer applications, I find it hard to imagine that there is any graphic which could unambiguously be read as representing the concept of autism. The diversity of views amongst autistic people about autism also seems to rule out a unanimously agreed "defining feature" of autism which could be used as a visual metaphor. So, whatever symbol is chosen, at best, it's meaning will only be known by the select few who have some incentive to know, especially in a world where we are surrounded all day by a multitude of icons and logos.

Mostly, though, I just don't get the need for a symbol at all. I don't blurt out that I'm autistic to every random stranger I meet, so I don't see the need to advertise the fact on my clothes. If people want to treat us more considerately, then they can just do that, and shouldn't need to be encouraged by having a virtue signal to pin to their lapel. If I have a message to get across, I'll use words; they're not perfect, but much more effective than a graphic that hardly anyone recognises and no-one can agree on the meaning of.

Regardless of whoever came up with the idea of using a puzzle piece to describe those of us who are ASD, I think the symbol itself and the various colours used on it, namely the rainbow colours, do seem appropriate somehow.

As Autistics we do come across as something of a puzzlement to NTs, and the colours themselves represent the many differences between us all who are on the spectrum as Autism is a spectrum disorder in itself as well with many variances in severity and effect.

Although I do see that some may think that it might be too child-like a symbol to represent Autistics, even us well-matured adults, we do have to admit that Autism has had that effect on our inherent maturity levels.
I can recall many threads in the past in these forums where many of us have questioned whether we are child-like in nature and whether or not this is a coincidence or a major factor in being Autistic.

Let the puzzle piece stand I say, I kind of like it now anyways and I've grown to accept it.

_________________
*** High Functioning Autism - Asperger's Syndrome ***

ADHD, OCD, and PTSD.

Keep calm and stim away.

No thanks. It's bad enough I have to see all these NTs at work with Autism Speaks themed shirts.

Could I be close friends with people like that? Nope. I sure wouldn't want to open ID myself with a shirt.