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Why I don’t like the puzzle piece as a symbol for autism

mysterionz

mysterionz

oh hamburgers!
V.I.P Member
why I don’t like the puzzle piece as a symbol for autism

it promotes need for a cure, ifantasizes autistic ppl, and conforms to the notion that a cure is needed.
 
Yeah, I totally agree. Even before I knew anything about Autism or connected it to myself, I thought that symbol was weird and hateful. Which it is.
 
I am not a fan of that either. Nor do I like the sideways image of a head, with many colors inside, like a stained glass window. To me to feels like it depicts my mind as broken. My mind is not broken - my brain is just different.

I really like this presentation by Simon Baron-Cohen, whenever I talk about the biology surrounding autism:
(Especially 12:40 - 14:39)

Some of the points he makes, is that our brains are visibly different from NTs. Like 65% more neurons in the frontal cortex. Heavier/larger brains. And other major differences between "The autistic brain" compared to the "Neurotypical brain".

Just because my brain is different from most other brains, does not mean it's broken, wrong or missing something. It's just like skin color, hair color, accents, having a lisp, or any other "trait" that might make one part of a minority. You are not broken or wrong, just because you're in the minority of some sort. Unless your actions has been bad, then you're still human, deserving of respect, love and being treated with kindness.

1. I'm sorry if I go completely off topic in the end.
2. If I offended anybody with my post, I'm sorry. That was not my intention. I just wanted to show that if you're in the minority, you're NOT worth less than people in the majority. People should only be judged by their actions and intentions - and not by things they have no control over.
 
Honestly the way I view it is like this: I don't like the puzzle piece, even before I realized I was autistic myself I didn't like it because of its association with Autism Speaks and the whole vibe it gives off of autistic people just being a 'puzzle' that needs to be figured out or that we're just metaphorically missing a piece in our brain and that's why we're not the same as NTs.

If I see another autistic person using the puzzle piece symbol for themselves? I'm not going to stop them, I'm not going to tell other autistics what symbols they should or shouldn't use for themselves in the same way that I won't tell them how they should or shouldn't feel about their autism.

But if I see a neurotypical person or an organization not ran by autistics use the symbol as part of autism awareness or whatever? Well, I still can't necessarily stop them, but I'll try to explain to them why a lot of us dislike the puzzle piece symbol and hope they'll listen and switch to using a symbol that isn't widely disliked among the autistic population.
 
I like the Scrulox symbol (for thinking outside of the box ;)).
full
 
To me, its too general. We all have different layers of autism, and It really doesn't define who we are. I think differently, but l don't feel like l am missing something like a piece of a gray cell matter. Sometimes l think society is missing half it's brain or puzzle pieces from what l read in the news. It's too simplistic to use as the official logo of us.
 
I never thought of the puzzle piece as representing a piece missing. I always took it to mean that we are a puzzle to be solved, meaning that we are different in a way people don't understand, and they need to 'solve' or understand us. But I now see how it might be offensive to some.
 
Progster said:
I never thought of the puzzle piece as representing a piece missing. I always took it to mean that we are a puzzle to be solved, meaning that we are different in a way people don't understand, and they need to 'solve' or understand us. But I now see how it might be offensive to some.
Click to expand...

I take it that way too, sometimes, which isn't as bad as a missing puzzle piece. I think the problem, though, is we're considered a puzzle, but few people want to listen to us. Or, some people enjoy the mystery, but I don't want to be somebody's mystery. Not to mention, NTs don't often stop to think about how many of them are puzzles to us. They think of the one Autistic person in their life who they find confusing and confrustrating. They don't realize that for us, this is pretty much everyone we interact with.
 
Mr. Stevens said:
I think the problem, though, is we're considered a puzzle, but few people want to listen to us.
Click to expand...
I believe most are not capable of understanding, no matter how hard they try. And some really do try.

I used this analogy in another thread, I think it's like a woman telling a man what it's like to be a woman. She can explain and explain until she's blue in the face but unless the man gets a chance to live it he will never really understand.
 
Outdated said:
I believe most are not capable of understanding, no matter how hard they try. And some really do try.

I used this analogy in another thread, I think it's like a woman telling a man what it's like to be a woman. She can explain and explain until she's blue in the face but unless the man gets a chance to live it he will never really understand.
Click to expand...

That's a good way to put it, and you're right. We can't really understand what we never experience.
 
Truly, it's other people who are most puzzling. The most insulting thing about the puzzle piece symbol is that it is alone, by itself, essentially being a metaphor about how I / we don't fit in.

Now that it's free domain, I'd rather use the profile image of Sherlock Holmes.
 
It's true. The puzzle piece is a wonderful metaphor. If you're Neurotypical it stands to reason.

But those of us who are actually on the spectrum of autism, it's an insult.

I want to be seen as a person- not to be marginalized as a puzzle piece.
 
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