The symbols of autism have gained a lot of prominence in recent years due to the great social awareness work being done about this condition.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that until a few years ago was very unknown, but nowadays everyone has heard of it.
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This advancement in social awareness about autism has been thanks to the work of family associations, advances in professional training, and certain government initiatives.
In this article, we are going to talk about the main symbols that are used to represent autism.
These symbols take on a lot of prominence in all actions carried out in favor of social awareness of autism, such as World Autism Day or International Asperger’s Syndrome Day.
🔵 What is Autism?
Autism, technically known as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects different areas of a child’s development.
Autism is a very complex condition since its characteristics can manifest in very diverse ways.
The main difficulties of autism are presented in three areas of development, the so-called “Wing Triad“:
- Communication
- Social interaction
- Cognitive rigidity
Therefore, the main difficulties for people with autism are in their ability to relate and communicate with others.
But people with autism also present cognitive rigidity that leads to difficulties in changing their ideas, thoughts, or ways of doing things.
The difficulties in these three core areas of autism will have greater or lesser severity depending on each specific case.
Depending on the severity, autism will be categorized into 3 levels: level 1 autism, level 2 autism, or level 3 autism.
The symptoms of autism can vary depending on age, and therefore their characteristics will be different in babies with autism, children with autism, teenagers with autism, or adults with autism.
🧩 SYMBOLS OF AUTISM
Using symbols to represent autism aims to visualize this condition through a simple image.
In fact, there are symbols for most disorders, conditions, or diseases, such as the yellow and blue ribbon for Down Syndrome, or the pink ribbon for breast cancer.
Autism can be represented through various symbols, but we will focus on the most common in this article are:
1. The color blue
The color blue is the color that represents autism and is the most commonly used symbol to represent this condition.
There are various explanations that justify the use of the color blue to symbolize autism, but there is one that is the most accepted.
The main explanation that justifies the use of the color blue to symbolize autism is that blue is the color of the sea.
In this way, a parallel is drawn between the sea and people with autism, mainly for two reasons:
- The sea and people with autism are usually calm and peaceful, but on occasion, for different reasons, both can suddenly lose control.
- Both the sea and people with autism harbor a rich inner world that would fascinate anyone who got to know them.
Therefore, whatever the reason, the color blue is the most used symbol to represent Autism Spectrum Disorder.
2. The puzzle piece
The puzzle piece is a symbol that, like the color blue, is used to represent Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Through the puzzle piece, two meanings can be represented that are clearly related to autism.
These two meanings attributed to the puzzle piece are social inclusion and diversity, which we briefly explain below:
Social inclusion:
The puzzle piece can signify the struggle for social inclusion of people with autism.
Each and every puzzle piece has its place and fits together with the other pieces, and therefore, this same meaning can be attributed to people with autism.
People with autism, like puzzle pieces, have their place in society and can fit in if they are in the right place.
Diversity:
The symbol of the puzzle piece can also represent the diversity of people.
All the pieces of a puzzle are different, but none is more or less than the others.
Therefore, the same goes for people, all are different, whether they have autism or not, but none is more or less than the others.
3. The Infinite Rainbow
In recent years, there has been a movement within the autism community to reject the classic symbols of the puzzle piece and blue color. At the same time, individuals with autism have felt more identified with a new symbol, the infinity symbol with the colors of the rainbow.
Increasingly, a significant portion of autism associations feel more identified with the infinite rainbow symbol than with the blue color or puzzle piece. These individuals justify their identification with the infinite rainbow symbol because they believe it better represents the diversity that exists in autism.
🤔 Why use symbols to represent autism?
The synthesized definition of the concept of a symbol is “an element that is considered representative of an idea, concept, or condition.”
Using symbols to represent anything is very useful because it allows you to visualize a concept with a simple image. Therefore, using symbols to represent autism is useful in the sense that everyone can associate these objects with autism, and thus visualize the condition of autism in an easy and global way worldwide.
There will be people who are more or less in favor of using symbols to represent a condition like autism. In any case, symbols are only symbols, and what is needed is social awareness of autism, greater training for professionals, and public policies aimed at the collective of people within the autism spectrum.
🗓️ WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAYS
There are two dates on the calendar that, like the symbols of autism, also play a huge role in visualizing autism to society. These two dates are: April 2, World Autism Awareness Day, and February 18, International Asperger’s Day.
During these two dates, especially during World Autism Awareness Day, numerous acts of visualization of autism and advocacy for the rights of people with ASD are carried out. We will explain very briefly what these two dates consist of and what their objectives are:
World Autism Awareness Day
In 2007, the United Nations declared April 2 as World Autism Awareness Day, which formally is called World Autism Awareness Day.
The main objective of declaring World Autism Awareness Day is to give visibility to people with autism. Another goal of April 2 is to raise awareness among institutions and society to promote the inclusion of people with this condition.
International Asperger’s Day
Since 2007, February 18 has been celebrated as International Asperger’s Day.
This date is commemorated to mark the birth of Austrian psychiatrist Hans Asperger, who described the symptoms of this syndrome in 1944. Although the term “Asperger’s Syndrome” is still used colloquially, this diagnosis no longer exists since 2013, as it was eliminated and incorporated into Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with the publication of DSM-5.
❓ FAQS about SYMBOLS OF AUTISM
What is the color of autism?
The color of autism is blue. Blue symbolizes autism and is used to represent this condition.
What is the symbol of autism?
The most commonly used symbol of autism is the color blue. But apart from blue, other symbols such as the puzzle piece or the infinity rainbow symbol are also used.
What is the symbol of Asperger’s Syndrome?
The most commonly used symbol of Asperger’s Syndrome is also the blue color, like in autism. Additionally, the puzzle piece and the infinity rainbow symbol are also used.
