Jigsaw piece

I read an interesting article about this jigsaw piece as the symbol for autism.  The writer was furious about this being the symbol. His main points were:

• it is a childish symbol, and although adults love jigsaws, it is predominantly a child’s activity and as such has connotations of childhood.  This is bad for the autistic community as a whole as more are adults than children
• the implications of using a puzzle piece implied that autism is something to be solved or fixed.  This reinforces the idea that autistic people are broken
• the jigsaw piece is suppose to symbolise the mystery and complexity of autism, but autism is no more mysterious or complex than any other neurological disorder

He calls for the jigsaw piece to stop being used to represent autism.

Personally, I like it.  I am a huge fan of jigsaws and regularly have one in the go. But as a symbol for autism, I like it. I explain to kids that my sons brain works slightly different to theirs and it takes him a bit longer to do things – it’s like there is a missing piece.  I don’t mean that my son needs to be solved, he just has to work round the bit that works differently to get to the end result.

I was in a jewellers a few months back and saw a range with a jigsaw piece charm. I bought the necklace and I was so emotional buying it.  I knew I would never take it off.  I asked a few friends if they knew the jigsaw piece was a symbol of autism, and they all said no.  Maybe it’s only something you are aware of if autism touches your life?

The National Autistic Society don’t use the jigsaw piece, I wonder if they hate what it represents too?