Est. 2020. The Last New Team to Make GISH Runner Up, 2022. How very.
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ALT The symbol that is most commonly associated with autism is the puzzle piece symbol. It is used widely by allistics (non-autistics) who want to show support for autistic people. Some autistics identify with the puzzle piece, but most of us don’t. We’ve been advocating against its use for a long time now. There are many reasons why…It is an infatuating symbol. It has been used to stigmatize us for decades; implying that we are a puzzle to be solved and/or that we have missing pieces. It was created for us by allistics and we didn’t get a choice…There is also a long, ableist history behind it.
ALT 1963: The puzzle piece symbol was created by Gerald Gasson of the National Autistic Society. The NAS believed that autistic people suffered from a ‘puzzling condition’ and so they came up with a weeping child in a puzzle piece. 1999: The Autism Society of America creates the puzzle piece ribbon to raise awareness. Unfortunately, they sought to cure autism through ‘early intervention’ and Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA)-which can be summed up as conversion therapy for autistics. 2022: The organization Autism Speaks continues to use the puzzle piece to this day on their website and beyond. To them, it represents the ‘search for answers’ that will lead to a greater understanding of autistic people. The answers they’re searching for are treatments and cures. It is important to understand that autism does not need to be ‘cured’. Many of the harmful beliefs about autism that continue to this day have been perpetuated by Autism Speaks, and they make it harder for autistics to be heard.
ALT Information regarding the puzzle piece and why we don’t use it is all available online and discussed in autism communities both offline and online. When we see allies using the puzzle piece, even though we want to assume they mean well, it gives us the impression that they aren’t listening to us. As a result, we don’t feel safe around them. Many autistic people have been advocating for the use of the symbols that we chose. The Rainbow Infinity Symbol-This was created to combat the puzzle piece by “Aspies For Freedom”, who are a controversial group by today’s standards of autism acceptance. The two autistic women who made the symbol currently disagree whether it represents all of neurodiversity or only autism. The Gold Infinity Symbol-Gold is “Au” in the periodic table so we use the gold infinity for autism. When you use the symbols that we’ve chosen, we feel our voices are heard and we’re being seen as people with agency. We are people and there should be nothing about us without us!
ALT a white woman with shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes looks seriously into the camera. she is wearing a teal blouse with an embroidered collar, and a short necklace.
ALT a painting of dean and cas asleep in bed with cas as the big spoon
ALT one side shows an example of a 120 page spiral bound notebook with the pinefest logo (a blue air freshener for a car in the shape of a pine tree with the samulet and a black feather). the other side shows an example of 3 small matte stickers, one of the pinefest logo, another of dean sitting with his knees up, and another of cas with his knees up
ALT Hello friends and not yet friends! As part of our ongoing plans towards a Supernatural convention by fans and for fans, A More Profound Con is seeking a volunteer tech team member with expertise with Discord, as well as building and maintaining a website (using WordPress or a similar content management system). Experience with the tech side of events, and/or interest in serving as a tech team lead is a huge plus! DM with any questions or for further details. Hope to hear from you soon!
