New symbol for autism from autistic perspective

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I like the simplicity of the circle with the square. The End.

But adding the laser shark makes it 20% cooler.

I like jigsaw puzzles. I'm amazing at them.
I feel like a puzzle with myself and like a single puzzle piece that doesn't fit anywhere in a big world that is also a HUGE puzzle.

Regardless of what Autism Speaks advertises about autism, I'm pretty sure that if the organization didn't exist, public awareness of the condition category would be cut by more than half, which means less funds for research, less funds for financial aid for people with autism, etc.
I am confused as to why people take upon themselves the name of a medical condition and then refuse medical attention.

I think the circle inside the square is brilliant. It refers to an experience of life which is universal within the autistic community, as opposed to a common, but not universal special interest, or personal preference. (re. cats). And I also like the ordering, with the volume of the square falling outside the circle, rather than being within the circle.
It would be hard to do better than this one.

My whole intention was to symbolize the square peg feeling we are all familiar with.
Simplicity is key in any good logo design.

I know, I think it's great!

Looking back I notice DemonAbyss10 made first mention of the squarepeg round hole experience.

Your design is a perfect expression of that insight.
It has everything that a good group symbol design should have:

1. Simplicity
2. Universality of experience
3. Centrality of experience
4. The potential of infinite variation, (like the ribbon)

If someone feels that pink cats best fits their personality, that person could have a square made of pink cats,
or gears, or microchip boards, or whatever an individual, or group wanted to use as an expression of their identity.
MindwithoutWalls could do a beautiful inkdrawing with an imposible cube and sphere.

It's infinite in its flexibility, and potential, without the use of the infinity symbol.

I'm going to start using it as my symbol, but I'll have to really think first about how to personalize it.

Brilliant design work!

I agree with your argument about which design to pick, plantwhisperer. I've decided to try using both pete1061's simple design, so it will be recognized easily (provided he doesn't object) and also my own, personalized version. I've revised my site to begin a resources page, and I now have a couple of categories of stuff listed. I'll be building the page over time, but here's what I have so far (with the simple design at the top of the Asperger's resources and my modification at the bottom of the list): Wayshelter "Cabinet"

Nice cabinet. I rifled through your whatnots.

I like the way you personalized the logo.
Now you've made yourself the impossible cube.
Tag your it.

Any of you folks who like the square & circle design, go ahead and feel free to use it wherever you like.
Modify it, color it up, go to town with it

It was my intention to donate my professional graphic design skills to the WP community.

Thanks pete1061, that's generous!

I do intend to use it as an autistic group symbol, and I predict that I'll be asked about its provenance.
So, this leads us to the ever awkward ,"Are you entirely out?" conversation.

I think, "credit, where credit's due", is an important part of fairness. So, do you want your name attached to this,
(as I think it deserves to be) or would you prefer to be an anonymous donor?

MindWithoutWalls, sorry about the last cryptic reply. That's what happens when I'm tired.

Let me try again.
I like your website. There were interesting things on it I'd not seen before, like the link to the Science Daily article about girls and women.

I do wonder though, because the symbol has no lettering to indicate that it is a symbol for something, if we use it without additional labeling, if it might simply be taken for decoration.

So, the next question probably needs to be.......
What should we call the square around a cirlcle?

AUTISM (as in, "This is a symbol of the experience of....") ?
INSIDE AUTISM (as compared to the puzzle piece's view of autism from without.) ?
MY AUTISM, (The personal experience) ?

How is it best summed up? Anybody have any thoughts on this alternative to the puzzle piece?
MindWithout Walls, how did you think of it when you first used it? Were you thinking specifically of Aspergers?
pete1061, did you have a more specific concept in mind then the general category of "AUTISM"?

When I'm not dead tired, I think clarity is important.

It seems as if the "square peg in a round hole" feeling is something many of us are familiar with.
The symbol is a very basic representation of that.

I'd be happy to modify my page to credit pete1061 for the design, just as soon as I have a moment for it. Also, I'd be happy to let others use my modification of an impossible cube entangled in an impossible cylinder, if it suits them.

Well, plantwhisperer, I don't know what special name we should call these things by. I'd be just fine with having the design refer to all people on the spectrum, as the autistic experience, viewed from within (which is to say, autistic's symbol for autistics and autism). I originally thought of it in terms of Asperger's, simply because that's what I suspect I have, but I'd hate to be excluded from using it if I unexpectedly get diagnosed with something like PDD-NOS before 2013. (We've had report of that kind of thing happening around here already.) Hey, let's plan for the future and share it all around. We all post here together, and everybody belongs. Everybody has a right, should they choose to use it, to a symbol that stands for representing ourselves, rather than only having others speak for us. It's a symbol of self-understanding, as we develop it over time, not of only ever being peered at from the outside and guessed about as some sort of funky medical / psychological enigma. And NTs who are with us about that can also display it as supporters of our right to be heard, right?

"The autistic experience, viewed from within." How's that work out for everybody? Is it acceptable as the definition of the meaning of the symbol?

Does "Square Peg, Round Hole" work as the name for the basic symbol? That's such a familiar metaphor amongst NTs that I think they'd get it right away, so we wouldn't have to keep explaining it.

"Impossible Cube Entangled In Impossible Cylinder" would work fine for me as the name of my modification. I think I'll even credit myself on my Website with the name I use in this forum, since I'm not being open yet about what's going on as I continue my search for proper evaluation.

I like this. It's so cool to be part of this process!

Yeah, an Infinity symbol sounds better than the puzzle piece. Not that it would fit into this situation, but I like the Red Faction symbol myself.

because it's not a "medical" condition. It's not like something is broken and needs to be fixed. It's the way we were made, and nothing can really "fix" us. Besides, we're not broken in the first place, just different. What you're suggesting would be like trying to take a PAL format video casette to an appliance repairman because it won't play in your NTSC VCR. Autism/Asperger's is not a medical condition. It cannot be fixed. All we can do is try to educate so that Aspies and NTs can better understand each other better. Asperger's isn't something we "caught." At least I know I didn't "catch" it.

Would you consider Asperger's\ASD a psychological condition? It is in the DSM, after all.

If it is not a medical condition, then there is no underlying physical difference from the norm in people with Autism or Aspergers. But then, that means medications are not needed, only psychotherapy, if an individual wants it.

One of the reasons people are interested in Autism and in studying it in a medical setting is that there are physical differences from the norm, and by physical I mean mostly neurological. Research is being done because we don't know what those physical differences are, but we know they are there, because infants and toddlers don't have the capacity to team up over the globe and create a unique behavioral pattern together, over many generations.

While many people with Aspergers and Autism feel pride in themselves for their unique talents and interests, there are many people with Aspergers and Autism who experience pain and stress on a daily basis that a normal person would find unbearable. Just as it would be wrong to end research on methods of treating or curing spinabifida, deafness, blindness, etc. it would be wrong not to search for a cure for Autism, which can be just as debilitating.

The fact that people with Autism can mature into adults with special talents is not relevant from the point of view of a medical standard, which is to seek to end processes occurring in a biological system which inhibit the success of that biological system in its natural environment, or to put it more simply, to end pain. And it is the responsibility of medicine to determine the origin of mutations which cause pain for an individual born with them, and to inhibit those mutations in order not to continue to produce individuals who will experience debilitating pain in life, which not only reduces their chance of continual wellbeing, but those of the people who must care for them as well. That is not only humane but important to the success of the human race as a whole, and thus merely a process of nature.