OK, So, I've Heard Many Autists Mention That They Have Abnormal Levels Of Heat Tolerance Or, In Other

Most autistic writers will advise you to have, at the very least, two autistic characters in your story, if you want to have any at all, and I'd say this applies to pretty much every marginalized community and minority.

Stereotypes are easier to fight if you have multiple examples of a community in your story and show how different two or more individuals can be despite the one or few thing(s) they have in common.

Back from the dead to reblog my own year-old post.

Wanted to add that if you're autistic and want to reclaim the puzzle piece, that's perfectly fine! But it's good we advise people to stay away from websites and organizations that use it since most of them are still ableist.

Since it's Autism Awareness Month, here's

Why the puzzle piece is offensive to the Autistic Community

[Large text: Why the puzzle piece is offensive to the Autistic Community]

Unfortunately, the most commonly used symbols to represent autism are all puzzle related, like the ones bellow.

These symbols and similar ones are typically used by Autism Organizations that are run by allistic people rather than autistic, Autism Speaks being the best-known example across the internet, but not the only one.

I'm not going to go deep into how bad Autism Speaks is, but just to leave you with the tip of the iceberg, know they used to put out ads that demonized autistic people (and even one in which one of the organization's leaders spoke about wanting to drive herself and her autistic daughter off a bridge).

Autism Speaks, and many others, attempt to "teach" people about autism, without hearing what actually autistic people have to say, and that's their biggest (but not at all only) problem.

Now, stay with me as we dive into history...

The puzzle piece was first used as a symbol for autism in 1963, by UK's National Autism Society, later on being adopted by Autism Speaks, which made it more popular.

Back then, autism awareness campaigns were viewed as being similar to, for example, cancer awareness ones, because autism was seen as an illness, a disease (which it is not).

As I've made clear before, the puzzle piece is heavily associated with organizations that spread misinformation about autism, making it, of course, already a bad symbol to represent us, but there's something I personally feel bothers us a lot more, and that is the symbolism of the puzzle piece.

The puzzle piece represents an idea of "mystery" and — you guessed it — being "puzzled".

And us, autists, don't really appreciate being called confusing.

Not only that, these words were often used to describe autism offensively in the past (and still are). And, on top of that, most times, when you find a puzzle supposed to represent autism, it is incomplete.

Isn't the message clear enough?

We're people, not puzzles that have to be worked out. We're not incomplete and we're not "puzzled".

So

Which symbols can you use for autism awareness?

[Large text: Which symbols can you use for autism awareness?]

The infinity rainbow symbol is common for all neurodivergent people, while the golden infinity is specific for ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder, in case you didn't know the acronym).

The infinity symbol represents the complexity and vastness of neurodivergence and autism.

Autism is less about "severity" and more about different struggles in different topics and areas (though not a lot of people seem to understand that, unfortunately). After all, autism is a spectrum, not a scale.

And if you're interested in why golden is the color of choice for us, that'd be because the periodic symbol for gold is Au, which I think is very clever, haha.

Some people also like to use red or plain yellow, I don't know a lot about that, but I'd recommend you research it.

And since we're on the topic of color, just a warning: in the Autistic Community we kind of avoid using blue to represent us, especially because it is heavily associated with Autism Speaks' "Light It Up Blue" movement.

Blue is seen as a representation of feelings like sadness, as well as being commonly associated with boys (this is important because women and other AFAB are often misdiagnosed and underdiagnosed because many people still think autism is only found in boys, and because many traits are viewed as "normal behavior" in AFAB people).

This isn't to say you can't use blue in the title of your PowerPoint presentation about ASD, it's just a thing we try to avoid.

Well, that should be all.

I decided to make this post because I've seen many people post about which symbols to use for Autism Awareness Month, but no one explaining why.

Thought this could help some poor lost soul understand it, lol

Happy Autism Awareness Month, my beloved Yippies, and a thank you to everyone who stopped to read <3 (heart).

Now I'm gonna go clean my search history and my gallery, just reading "Autism Speaks" gives me the ick.

Cheers to all the autistics whose special interest is autism itself;

Cheers to all the autistics whose special interest is any other condition they do or do not have;

Cheers to all the autistics whose special interest is seen as stereotypical within the community;

Cheers to all the autistics whose special interest is their job, career or degree;

Cheers to all the autistics whose special interest is a person, a group or a character;

Cheers to all the autistics whose special interest is a show, a movie or a series;

Cheers to all the autistics whose special interest is town, a country or another location;

Cheers to all the autistics whose special interest is an art or a craft, even if underrated;

Cheers to all the autistics whose special interest is an activity or a sport;

Cheers to all the autistics whose special interest hasn't been mentioned above;

Cheers to all the autistics who do not have a special interest;

Cheers to all the autistics who are still figuring out theirs;

Cheers to all the autistics.

For July 2024 we're keeping the party going here at the Prompt foundry, celebrating diversity, solidarity, and triumphs won in the fight for rights as we roll right from Queer Pride in June to Disability Pride in July with Pride 2 Disability Boogaloo!

If you use this list, please tag me here @thepromptfoundry, I’d love to see your writing and art!

Feel free to combine different days' prompts with each other, or combine them with other seasonal events! Use your OCs, your favorite characters from media, your own experiences, whatever tickles your fancy.

Respond to as many prompts as you want or as interest you, don’t worry about missing or skipping any. Remember, this is supposed to be fun!

If you have any questions or musings, check our FAQ, and if you don't find your answer, shoot me an ask.

Plain text list below the cut:

1 We’ve always been here 2 Growing up disabled 3 Mobility aides 4 Curb-cut effect 5 Memory loss 6 Dignity 7 Limb difference 8 Sensory sensitivity 9 Autonomy 10 Invisible disability 11 Family 12 Nonverbal 13 Communication 14 Deaf or Hard of Hearing 15 Support 16 Technology 17 Pain 18 Rest 19 Facial difference 20 Space for us 21 Neurological disability 22 Neurodiversity 23 Becoming disabled 24 Allergy 25 Chronic condition 26 Genetics 27 Skin difference 28 Maintenance 29 Respecting limits 30 Solidarity 31 A future for us

Have fun!

And if you want to "light it up," please do red, not blue. When we see the puzzle piece or "light it up blue," both of which are promoted by anti-autistic hate groups, that tells us you don't actually care about or respect us.

Not gonna argue about this; I'll just block.

Autistics of Tumblr, what is your favorite or most random vocal stim?

I used to say "Eren Jaeger" in a deep voice whenever I saw a bird.

You gotta write for funsies sometimes. Everything doesn’t have to be groundbreaking. Like. Who cares if it’s a little silly it is made out of love

Happy July, happy disability pride month

Unpopular opinion: don't hesitate in killing your characters.

Everyone speaks about how you shouldn't kill a character out of the blue, but why can't you? People die in real life too; there's no need for a bigger reason.

Just don't kill characters purely because you're tired of them — don't abuse your power as a writer.

Growing up is realizing that, as a neurodivergent or disabled person, you'll always have to assume certain actions as mistakes, even if they were caused by your condition(s).

Whether you have some control over it or not, it doesn't really matter most times. If you try to justify it, people will tell you you use your condition(s) as an excuse for everything.

They want you to adapt yourself to their world and often they don't realize they're being ableistic.

But they are.

We constantly have to change ourselves, because the world won't change for us, while they get a chance to be themselves out there.

It isn't fair, but it's the way of the world, I suppose.

It was made by neurotypicals, for neurotypicals.

By able-bodied, for able-bodied.