Autism Awareness Lanyard

*Please note that this will be the final autism awareness item that displays puzzle pieces that EVOLVE will sell.

I'm constantly learning, and in January 2025, I learned the autism community would prefer to use and see autism awareness symbolized with a rainbow-colored infinity symbol to represent a spectrum, diversity, and difference rather than a puzzle piece.

Did you know? The puzzle piece was designed in the 1960s by Gerald Gasson, a board member of the Autistic Children Association, and was adopted as the symbol of autism. He said people with autism were "full of unknowns like puzzle pieces". But the symbol later became criticized because of the perceived implication that people with autism were "missing" something or "incomplete" and needed to be "solved".

In February 2018, the puzzle piece was replaced with a rainbow-colored infinity symbol to represent a spectrum, diversity, and difference.