I did a bit of research because before I was speaking from my gut.
Turns out the puzzle piece was first used in 1963 by the National Autistic Society in the UK. They had a crying child inside a puzzle piece. They no longer use that logo.
“the puzzle piece is so effective because it tells us something about autism: our children are handicapped by a puzzling condition; this isolates them from normal human contact and therefore they do not ‘fit in’. The suggestion of a weeping child is a reminder that autistic people do indeed suffer from their handicap.” — Helen Allison
The article The Problem with the Autism Puzzle Piece gives a good overview of current interpretations of the puzzle piece. Naturally, YMMV, all autistic folk are entitled to their own interpretation, etc.
Yikes! Is that really the meaning behind it? I naïvely would have assumed that it was referring to autistic people enjoying puzzles…
I did a bit of research because before I was speaking from my gut.
Turns out the puzzle piece was first used in 1963 by the National Autistic Society in the UK. They had a crying child inside a puzzle piece. They no longer use that logo.
The article The Problem with the Autism Puzzle Piece gives a good overview of current interpretations of the puzzle piece. Naturally, YMMV, all autistic folk are entitled to their own interpretation, etc.