Autistic Pride Symbol?

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Can anyone explain the autistic pride logo to me? I'm sure there's symbolism involved, and the spectrum bit is obvious, but I don't get the infinity. I'm getting a shirt that says "Different, Not Less" and has the logo on it, but I know as soon as I wear it I'm going to have to explain it to others and have no clue how I'm going to explain it if I don't know what it is myself...

Here's a picture of the symbol for your reference:


Thanks!
BigSister

Have they abandoned the jigsawpuzzle symbol then?

(Who keeps track of such things? )

Gay autistic pride?

Last edited by Dreycrux on 18 May 2014, 2:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Humorous that none of us knows what it means, just goes to show you how meaningful symbols like this are - (gay autistic pride, haha).

It probably means something like our future (or our skills) are limitless.

Isn't that based on the infinity symbol?

I like the puzzle symbolism.

Oh please no!!

It's bad enough being labelled as either autistic or someone with Asperger's without having to wear some symbol or badge. There's no way that I'm proud of being an aspie and if I can hide it from the NT world then I'll be a happy bunny.

the jigsaw piece idea came from the autism community [AKA those who are indirectly affected by ASD or who work with it], the multi coloured spectrum infinity logo came from the autistic community [AKA us lot].

the jigsaw piece logo makes us look difficult and like a complicated puzzle,something that isnt complete,something that baffles people etc,we arent a puzzle piece; we are human beings like everyone else-except we have a different neurology setup which makes us experience the world in a different manner, why shoud we accept being called a puzzle when this takes away our humanity and equality?

am guessing the infinity logo is to do with the fact autism is quite often seen as an infinite spectrum;with the infinite logo representing the near infinite number of people in the world who have some level of clinical autism or those who just have a few traits, and the multi colours representing all different flavours of the spectrum.

an incredible amount of people say 'everyone has got a bit of autism in them' but that isnt fair on those of us who are truly on the spectrum,as sharing one or two traits with someone diagnosed with ASD doesnt automaticaly mean theyre autistic,in the same way having severe headaches doesnt automaticaly mean its a brain tumour or brain injury just because they share a symptom.

Kingdomofrats, do you know about the origin of the butterfly symbol for Autism? I like that one.

One thing that I wonder though is whether there is a spectrum with a cutoff somewhere between normal and not. Like high blood pressure, the cutoff for which has and can change. Or whether it is discrete rather than a spectrum condition.

sorry no-never come across it skibum,it might just be an individuals take on a symbol for autistic pride.
perhaps WP users shoud start an AP logo,well anyone whose got the skills to do so.

it depends on own personal beliefs.
many people believe there is an infinite spectrum but theyre including everyone under that label from those who have one or two traits to profoundly affected individuals.

Oh great....just like everyone has a bit of OCD right? That is so stupid. Let's just trivialize the whole damn thing and forget about the people with actual mental disorders...

Superbly put!

***
Pretty much every disorder except maybe dead, is something that is basically normal that has gone to the extreme.
Meaning, yes, everybody has it (even schizophrenia) in a useful way that maybe fits a bell curve.
As in, perhaps the "normal" version of multiple personalities is that most people have varying attitudes and behaviors.

It is Black & White thinking to the extreme to be unable or unwilling to notice the huge difference in outcome between a "normal" person with a hobby and a person with an obsession that is harming them.
NTs are just as likely to engage in the easy road of Black & White thinking as anyone else.

It's just a coping mechanism.

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Why do we need a symbol?

I vote for a cat. No reason other than that they are cute!

We should have a harp as a symbol, with each string representing the colors of the prism spectrum.