Why Autistic People Are Not A Puzzle

In honor of Autism Acceptance Month, we’ve invited Angelina Meyer of the Spoonflower shop angelinamariadesigns, to share her experience as an Autistic artist, and how it impacts her work and point of view. Read on below for a mini interview with Angelina and an essay by her about how symbols for the Autistic community have evolved.

Angelina Meyer is the proudly Autistic watercolor artist and surface pattern designer behind Angelina Maria Designs. She is inspired by nature and reflects that through her lovely hand-painted designs. Her and her children’s special interests, as well as floral designs, are often the themes of her work. Angelina lives in central Missouri with her husband and her two young Autistic children. With her work, she hopes to bring more beauty into the world and into the lives of her customers, as well as help to advocate for the Autistic community. 

Where do you find inspiration for your designs? 
A lot of the inspiration I find is from nature. My favorite designs to create are floral designs, but I also enjoy painting animals and other things myself and my kids are interested in. I even made a whole collection around coffee since coffee is one of my favorite things. I painted all of the designs in that collection with brewed coffee and watercolor paint. 

How does Autism impact your art? 
Painting with watercolor is one of my special interests. As an Autistic person, being able to use one of my special interests as a career and a way to generate income is an amazing thing. It makes what I do feel less like work when it’s something that I enjoy so much. The downside is that I become so hyperfocused on my special interests that I lose all track of time. Sometimes this means I forget to eat, stay up too late working and have trouble prioritizing a work-life balance. 

Angelina: During the month of April, our social media feeds become flooded with images of puzzle pieces and puzzle-piece ribbons in bright primary colors. These images and logos are often shared, worn and displayed by neurotypical people to “spread awareness” in support of their Autistic friends and family members. April is nationally recognized in the United States as Autism Acceptance Month, previously known as Autism Awareness Month. The puzzle-piece image is the most recognized symbol for Autism at this time. Most of the general public share this imagery without knowing the history behind it, and are oblivious to the fact that many people in the Autistic community view it as a symbol of hate and prefer the use of the infinity loop symbol. 

I want to make it clear that the Autistic community is not a monolith. Every Autistic person has their own views and life experiences. I am just one Autistic person, but I am writing to share my own views and the views of the majority of the Autistic community. While the majority of the Autistic community and myself do not support the puzzle-piece symbol and agree that it brings harm to our community, there are still some Autistic people who do identify with and support that symbol. In my personal experience as an Autistic person interacting in spaces with other Autistic people, a large amount of Autistic individuals dislike this symbol. With that disclaimer in place, let’s continue. 

The original design was created in 1963 by Gerald Gasson, a board member of the National Autistic Society based in London. He and other members of the board believed that Autistic people suffered from a puzzling condition that needed to be solved, and reflected this in their logo. The logo that he created featured a black-and-white puzzle piece with a crying child in the center. This puzzle-piece logo was created without input from the Autistic community and has unfortunately been used over the years to stigmatize and infantilize Autistic people since its inception. 

The majority of our society views Autism as just a childhood disorder, which limits the availability of accommodations, services and assistance for Autistic adults. This myth that Autism only occurs in children is further perpetuated by the brightly colored, childish puzzle-piece symbol.  

We are whole and perfect just the way we are. And as Autistic children grow up to be Autistic adults, we need to be included in the conversation. In the decades since the original logo was created, many other variations have been made by organizations striving to find the “cure” and “raise awareness” for Autism. In 1999, the Autism Society created the Autism Awareness Ribbon.  

Although the Autism Society acknowledges the diversity of Autistic people, their main goal was to increase awareness of Autism. Campaigns used to raise awareness are typically for diseases or illnesses that people are hoping to cure or find treatments for. Keeping this language and the puzzle-piece symbol continues the narrative that Autism is a disease that needs curing. Autism is not a disease; it is a life-long neurodevelopmental disability caused by differences in the brain. While the first step to acceptance is being aware, awareness alone does not support the Autistic community. We need acceptance and inclusion, and continuing the use of this symbol is further stigmatizing us and our disabilities. 

Autism Speaks further popularized this symbol with their blue puzzle-piece logo in 2005. They chose the color blue because they incorrectly believed Autism occurred mainly in those assigned male at birth, leaving Autistic people of all other gender identities underdiagnosed. The color blue also invokes a feeling of sadness and grieving that is often associated with Autism through this organization.   

What should we use in place of the puzzle-piece symbol? Currently, the symbol most widely accepted across the Autistic community is a gold infinity loop for Autism Acceptance and a rainbow infinity loop for Neurodiversity.  

The gold infinity loop, chosen by the Autistic community, represents the diversity found in individuals across the Autism Spectrum with infinite variations of traits, personalities, strengths, difficulties, assistance needed and more. Gold was chosen as the color of this infinity loop since the first two letters of Autism and Autistic are “Au”, which is also the chemical symbol for gold. 

The rainbow infinity loop was created by neurodiversity advocates to symbolize the diversity of infinite variations and infinite possibilities across all neurotypes. Both designs transformed the narrative from awareness to acceptance of Autism and neurodiversity. 

This is relevant because the continued use of the puzzle-piece logo starts with us. It starts with the artists who create designs to print onto fabric and other materials. Then, it spreads to sewists and small business owners who create clothing and other items from this fabric to sell to their customers.  

If we can make this change and provide education directly to where fabric designing and apparel making starts, then maybe this information will spread and educate the general public to stop the harm inflicted on the Autistic community that comes from the continued use of this symbol. 

When purchasing fabric with Autism symbolism, please prioritize artists who identify as Autistic. People and organizations have profited off of our neurotype for decades, whether intentionally or not, often without actual Autistic people receiving compensation.  

This is especially important since as of 2021, an estimated 50-75% of Autistic adults in the United States are currently unemployed or underemployed, and an estimated 85% of Autistic adults are unemployed globally.¹ At least 85% of Autistic adults in the United States with a college education are currently unemployed as of 2023.² It is often harder for us to obtain traditional public-facing jobs since we struggle with things like differences in communication styles, sensory sensitivities, difficulty with emotional regulation, executive dysfunction and slower processing speeds. We also are less likely to be hired due to stigmatization, misunderstanding, ableism and lack of appropriate accommodations.  

Since it is harder for us to obtain traditional jobs, it is incredibly important to directly support Autistic people when purchasing items in support of or acceptance of Autism.  

If you are looking to support organizations that benefit Autistic individuals, look for Autistic-led organizations. Some great ones to support are the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN), Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network (AWN), Autistic Inclusive Meets (AIM) and Autism Career Pathways.  

So this April, don’t “light it up blue.” Don’t create or sell items in support of Autism Acceptance or its symbols if you are not an Autistic person yourself. Instead, support Autistic designers, makers, educators, authors, artists and small-business owners. We don’t only want awareness of our existence, we want and NEED acceptance. Autism Awareness is just acknowledging that Autism exists. Autism Acceptance is including Autistic people, listening to and uplifting their voices, providing more jobs for Autistic individuals, doing the work of understanding Autistic people, ridding yourself of your biases and prejudices against us, providing compensation to Autistic individuals willing to educate you and helping to create a world where every Autistic person has access to the support that they need to not only live, but thrive in life. 

1. Jennifer “Jay” Palumbo, “Why Autism Speaks Is Encouraging Companies To Hire Those On The Autistic Spectrum,” Forbes, April 27, 2021, accessed March 10, 2023

2. “Autism and Employment Statistics – Update 2023,” MyDisabilityJobs.com, August 29, 2022, accessed March 10, 2023.