The Autism Puzzle Piece Logo: What It Really Means
One of the orginators of the puzzle symbol explains the intentions behind it.
By Thomas A. McKean
There has been some misinformation spreading out there on the web lately about the puzzle piece awareness ribbon and what it means and represents. One of the things they are saying is that no one with autism was involved in its creation. This is incorrect. I was involved with it. I was there in the the room that day and I had both input and a vote. I’d like a moment to clarify just a few things.
The puzzle piece ribbon was created back in 1999, some 22 years ago. Over those years, several people have put their own unique meaning to what it represents. (Example: one mother told me that for her it represented the missing pieces of her life that her child filled in for her.) Below is what the puzzle piece means — OFFICIALLY.
The interlocking pieces represent the unknowns of autism. Understand we are talking about autism itself, not any individual who may be diagnosed. We are not saying, as some believe, that “people with autism are a puzzle.” We are not saying they are “missing pieces.” We are not saying they are “a puzzle to be solved.” We never said any of that. What we are saying here is there are still a few things that we haven’t quite figured out yet about how all of this works. So…