
i thought it was because the organization (autism speaks) is looking for a cure for autism and also doesn’t have any autistic people in positions of power in the org so it’s not actually representative of them. thus the puzzle piece is really representative of the fact that they don’t think autistic people are whole - they’re missing some of their pieces. which is super fucked up
I saw a dad at the store I worked at with a son who I believe had Down syndrome (I didn’t ask for specifics). The dad had a tattoo sleeve with the puzzle pieces and some of them were colored in so people could recognize it, but others were blank and he said it’s because he lets his son color them in.