I have a few pin badges. It isn’t like collection or anything. One is of a badger that I need to get back from a former employer or just buy another. And the other one I have is of a ribbon which is filled with puzzle pieces that's often used to represent Autism. I got this to show that I am on the spectrum. It was a big step in 'outing' myself as autistic in public plus, nothing shows your support more than a pin badge after all. Well, maybe a rubber bracelet. A rubber bracelet and a pin badge and you are all in. I can't do the rubber bracelet though because it's uncomfortable. I have never before found anything to be pin badge or rubber bracelet worthy. When it came to Autism however, it was different. I wanted to show my support to the neurodivergent community, to demonstrate that I am with them as an ally and as a neurodivergent person, parent, husband, all of it. Especially when working in schools I thought I would be good to be visible and autistic.
Then it came as a surprise to find out that not everyone is happy with the symbolism behind the jigsaw piece, The Wife being one of them. I hadn’t given it much thought before wearing the badge. When I showed The Wife the pin she was happy that I was finally proudly showing acceptance of my diagnosis but she also explained why she (and a lot of others) didn't approve of the puzzle piece. Obviously I was confused, the jigsaw puzzle logo is ubiquitous whenever you look for autism related designs. People have it as tattoos, as t-shirts and a plethora of other designs. Why then is there an issue with using it? What does the puzzle piece actually represent and advocate for?
I spent time looking into this and where the disapproval stemmed from and here's what I found. The symbol of the jigsaw piece represents something missing in the autistic person. Or, more literally, that there is something intrinsically wrong with the person, someone that needs to be figured out and fixed before they are complete or they remain...a puzzle. A jigsaw with a piece missing it not a solved puzzle. It is a failure. A failure to become whole and complete. This failure is then, symbolically, transferred on the person with autism. It also adds to the idea a person on the spectrum is less and needs to be completed. This completion would also serve as a cure.
So, if you are autistic you need to be figured out and cured otherwise, you will fail. You need to eradicate your autism in order to succeed and not be a burden to society! Um, I don't think so!
The idea of a “cure” is very problematic when it comes to Autism. For a diagnosis to be given the clinician relies on many different pieces of data. Autism is also, as the NHS website says, not an illness or disease and “not a medical condition with treatments or a cure” (What is autism?). By suggesting that a person is sick and needs a cure it can lead people to undergo dangerous or untested treatments. Not only that, it adds to the stigmatisation that many autistic people have to contend with. Not to mention the impact on self-esteem. Imagine feeling that something is inherently wrong with you and you must take every step necessary to fix yourself when in actuality, there is nothing to fix.
So, where did the puzzle piece come from?
The origin of the symbol is one of the main reasons it is so widely disliked. It originated back to when Doctor Who was first shown, 1963. The crying child’s face in the centre of the puzzle was to show how autism can negatively impact a child’s life. As well as them having something missing. Originally it was used as the logo for British National Autism Society (NAS). Over the years the NAS have since moved to a speech bubble circle that is coloured in a gradient. This is to represent the variety of autism as well as the range of people that are affected by it. The circular shape suggests that autism is an endless spectrum and that the autistic person is in fact, complete. The speech bubble used to show that the NAS aim to be a voice for those on the spectrum. Much better than a missing incomplete puzzle.
The puzzle piece was taken up by an American Non-Profit organisation called Autism Speaks – unless you are non-verbal – which as a company is very problematic. Their mission statement used to focus on finding the cure for Autism. There are a lot of problems with the organisation that I am uncomfortable with. For a further breakdown of what we find troublesome about Autism Speaks, follow this link: The Autism Speaks Controversy Explained | The Mary Sue.
Are there any positives to the puzzle piece?
Some have attempted reclaim the jigsaw piece symbol by arguing that discovering they were autistic was the missing piece to understanding themselves. I believe there is a lot of value in this because it was exactly how I felt. Before my diagnosis I felt like something was missing, there was something I wasn't quite...getting or understanding. Once discovered that I was actually autistic all along it completed the picture. However, if I was to use the puzzle piece, I would find myself (and those I'm speaking with) in danger of spending more time talking about why I'm using it and why it is not related to Autism Speaks than anything else. Kind of like getting a tattoo of your child who has the initials BNP and then having to say: no, it isn’t about the British National Party but my daughter. And that you really should have thought harder about the initials.
This defeats the point for me. I want to show that I am: 1) autistic and proud and 2) an ally for neuro-divergency.
A symbol can help to define a person. It is something that you can rally round and use to show, to others, that you belong to a community and are a safe space and advocate for all in that community. It is more common for us to now use the infinity symbol. Sometimes coloured in and sometimes not. The idea behind this is that instead of being inherently negative, with something missing and something less, it is positive. It is suggestive of limitless possibilities and limitless variety that can be found in neurodivergent people.
You can, of course, use whatever symbol you want to define however you want to be defined. If you want to use the jigsaw piece, do. If you want the infinity symbol, then use that. If you want to use nothing at all then that is also your choice.
I do not use the Autism pin badge anymore as I do not believe that I need to be cured. Treatments that promise a cure should be avoided and therapies that promote strategies to cope and thrive promoted. It's society that needs to adapt, not us.
Further Reading
I used several articles for this post and linked them above but, by far, the most helpful was: Why the Autism Puzzle Piece Is Bad, and What to Use Instead (theabilitytoolbox.com)
Thoughts?
What do you think? Is the jigsaw puzzle a problem? Are you happy to use it? Do you think we should reclaim it? Let me know in the comments.
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