Should the puzzle piece be considered a hate symbol?

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Like many autistic people, I deeply despise the puzzle piece, and I find it offensive when people insist on using it to represent autism. I was thinking...do you think it should be considered a hate symbol in the same vein as the swastika or the Confederate flag?

TBH, I do consider the puzzle piece a hate symbol, since it's used to keep autistic people down and preserve the status quo with how we're treated. We don't like the puzzle piece, and we often don't get a say about its usage (namely, that we want people to stop using it). I actually know the history behind the puzzle piece, and it's very depressing and sickening. So I feel like it should be regarded as a hate symbol.

no, not a hate symbol.
why start a war when simple explanation and education is less destructive ?

I have watched the swing away from the puzzle symbol. It is happening in many places because autistic individuals are speaking up and giving "the other side of the story". People can choose for themselves, if given information they need to proceed.

No this was discussed recently on here:-

1. Will it really effect the lives of everyday autistic people does the rest of the world know or care of the history of this puzzle piece- probably not

2. I mentioned recently the replacement rainbow looking symbol looks very similar to the LGBT one.

So many autistic people will be mistakenly labelled as gay and all the problems that causes.

In a perfect world it wouldn’t matter what sexuality people are but we know that in the real world that is not the case.

It’s not the case in the US for example in some communities let alone many religious countries.

It’s just unnecessary stress on top of stress caused by an ill thought out idea

Maybe it needs an update, as a lot has changed since 1999. To me it looks a bit cheesy, I guess.

As far as looking like the pride flag, I can kind of see how others may notice the similarities but at the same time it looks nothing like it. TBH as a gay man I have mixed feelings about The Pride flag as well but that is a different story, for a different day.

I strongly dislike the symbol because I feel it is dehumanizing because to me it implies thinking of us as a puzzle to be solved rather than accepting us for who we are. That is me, but me is not we. There are some autistic people who the like the symbol for legitimate reasons. I do not see any benefit in automatically putting these people in the ableist or even the self hater category.

The problem is not the symbol it is the ableism associated with it. Fighting over symbols is often a distraction.

I think that it's so much of a hate symbol that I made a parody of the Autism Speaks logo replacing the puzzle piece with the swastika back in either 2015 or 2016. I think it was 2015 before I had a better understanding of myself. I had the mindset of a 21 year old Mod and my mindset at the time was reflected in that meme.