Misc.

Autism Hub Buttons

There were several different button designs used to declare that you were a member of the Autism Hub blogosphere. Artist unknown.

[Image description: From left to right, a button with a white background and an indigo blue gradient. There is blue indigo text that says "Autism Hub" and white text below it that says "blogger", with a near identical button next to it that says "Autism Hub Autism Blogs".  Another button with a dark blue top half and an orange button half, with "Autism Hub" in white text and "member bloggers" in dark blue text. A near identical button next to it says "Autism Hub Autism Blogs". There is a smaller, thinner button that says "The Autism Hub", "The" being blue text with an orange background  and "Autism Hub" in white text with a dark blue background. There is a gray rectangle with two V shapes, one dark pink and one lighter pink, with "AutismHub" next to it, Autism in light pink, and Hub in dark pink. There is another gray rectangle with a green gear with a tiny dot in the center and the words "Autism Hub" in black and in all caps.]

Autistic Pride Greeting Cards

Autistics.org had greeting cards you could email to a friend in celebration of Autistic Pride Day. Greeting cards were very common in the early days of the internet. Artist(s) unknown.
Content note: Use of Asperger's and Aspie

A card with a gradient purple background and five rainbow-colored stars with the text "Welcome tot he beauty of the Autistic Spectrum"
A card with a dark gray background, red text that reads, "Cure what?" and grayscale photos of several historical figures speculated or confirmed to be autistic, such as Albert Einstein, Temple Grandin, Emily Dickinson, and Nikola Tesla.
A card with a white background, a green cylinder, a square hole, and black text that reads "Sometimes it's hard being different"
A card with a white background, a big rainbow colored paintbrush with a rainbow trail, and white text that says "Celebrate Neurodiversity!". There is text in the background that has "Autism, Aspergers, PDD-NOS, Semantic, Pragmatic, Attention Deficit, Dysgraphia, Tourettes" repeated
A card with a white background, a white male scientist in a white lab coat looking at something with a microscope, and black text that reads, "Now where did I misplace that Theory of Mind?"
A card with a white background that reads "Logical Imaginative Honest Direct Original Perseverant Aspie". All words are in a black font except for Aspie, which is in red.



Autistic Liberation Front Buttons

On Autistics.org, there were buttons for sale that had various sayings on it, including "Autistic Liberation Front" and "I am not a puzzle. I am a person". To clarify, Autistic Liberation Front was never an organization or website, but was rather an idea, taken from Gay Liberation Front, and showing that button signified your commitment to liberation of autistic people. This is the earliest instance of objection to the puzzle piece as a symbol for autism that I have found. 

The third button to the right is referencing the Autism Society of America, featuring their infamous puzzle piece ribbon for Autism Awareness.

A button that has a white background, a black jigsaw puzzle piece that is vaguely shaped like a human stick figure that is crossed out with a red no symbol, and the saying "I am not a puzzle, I am a person" plastered around the crossed out puzzle piece in black text
A button that is half white, half dar blue, with the logo for Autistic Liberation Front, and a raised fist that is rainbow colored. The letters that appear in the dark blue half are colored white while the letters that appear in the white half are dark blue.
A button that is half black on the right and half white on the left. The left half has a ribbon with red, blue, and yellow puzzle pieces and the black text that says "here, we're silenced". The right half has a raised fist that is rainbow colored with white text that reads"Parents don't speak for me!" and text at the bottom that reads "Autistic Liberation Front". The letters in Autistic Liberation Front that are on the left half are black while the letters that appear on the right are colored white.

The Real Meaning of "Autism Prevention"

Content Note: Blood, gore, eugenics, obscene imagery

A user on Autistics.org made a graphic that was meant to show what autism prevention would mean in practice. The graphic is also a play on words, with the trash can having a double meaning, referring to both a trash can and the acronym for Cure Autism Now, an organization that was eventually absorbed by Autism Speaks. Artist unknown.

A gray trash can labeled "C.A.N" with chopped up body parts from an aborted fetus thrown into it. The trash can is next to a red brick wall with a white sign that reads "Autism Prevention (abortion) Clinic Entrance In Front". The ground is the same color as the trash can. There is a caption on the bottom in white text that reads "The real meaning of "autism prevention"

Curebie Bingo by Mel Baggs

Mel made Bingo cards that have several phrases that curebies often say. Curebies in this context are defined as "a person who wants nothing more than to teach child autistics to speak and adult autistics to shut up". Sie made three different versions, though I have only been able to find two of them along with a template Mel made for anyone who may want to create a Curebie Bingo of their own. There are versions for non-autistic curebies and an autie version for autistic people with internalized ableism.

"Curebie Bingo at the top, and defines curbie as "n. a person who wants nothing more than to teach child autistics to speak and adult autistics to shut up". The panels say the following, from left to right, top to bottom: "All you do by standing up for your value is spread hate. Why can't you be sweet and compliant like other auties?" "If you don't work toward a cure, then you are selfishly wasting my tax money on supporting people like you" "If autistic people are not cured then they will end up in an institution and you don't want that, do you?" "I only wish my child child had the luxury of being able to make parents feel bad about wanting to cure him" "My child is incapable of self-advocacy" "How could I possibly accept autism when it is tearing my whole family apart?" "My son will never carry on the family name" "Children and adults with the more typical lower functioning autism are not wonderful" "Autism comes from the devil, God would not make parents suffer this way" "I want a cure & you don't so we must have very different kinds of autism from each other" "Live the child. Hate the autism." "You are just trying to be special when you say you are happy as you are. Get over yourselves." "Free space ("If you can play this game, you're obviously not autistic." "It devastates me to watch my daughter stare at celling fans when she should be playing with dolls." "Autistics people are resistant to change. That's the only reason you don't want to be cured." "You only wish you were an autie. Then you might be important. Get out of the way of parents of real autistics. How can you know you don't want a cure if you've never had one?" "If you think the rest of society will ever treat autistics better without a cure, you're deluding yourself" "You angry high functioning only care about principles, not what happens to the low functioners" "A person with autism would want a cure so you're just faking it for attention" "I just worry about keeping harm from happening to my son after I'm gone and if he's cured I don't have to worry" "How could you love someone and want to see them struggle every day to do what is easy for the rest of us?" "You're like an emotionally immature teen challenging your parents without understanding their wisdom" "An autistic's place is to teach parents. Not disagree with them." "I don't consider Asperger as autism. You don't know what autism is, Rainman!" The bottom of the bingo card says copyright 2004 A.M. Baggs. Feel free to reproduce for personal use, but do not sell or use for commercial purposes. Acknowledgments to "Breeder Bingo" for the concept"
The top says "Curebie Bingo". "n. a person who wants nothing more than to teach autistic children to speak and autistic adults to shut up". The panels read from left to right, top to bottom-"Autism is defined as difficulties, not strengths, so I want my difficulties (autism) to go away" 'I think an autistic child is better off not being born than living in a family that doesn't accept autism" "I am a sensitive autie. Not an insensitive aspie. Stop being so antagonistic and opinionated. All feelings are valid." "I don't want a cure, but I am an aspie, and I think LFA (low functioning autistic) people need cures so they can be aspies like me" "I am much lower functioning than the 'aspies' who oppose 'cure'; they don't understand the pain of sensory issues, etc." "I don't need a cure, but I think some autistics do because there are no absolutes in the world." "If autism had been eliminated before I was born, I would have been born healthier and with a chance at happiness." "My brain is autistic but my soul is not, and I want a cure for my brain so my soul can fully express itself." "I used to not want a cure, but now that I have dealt with ten more years of discrimination, I think I do." "Us adults may not need a cure. But I would like if children had one so they will have better opportunities than I did." "I want a cure because I want to have a boyfriend or girlfriend or to get married or to have sex with someone." "I have taught myself to speak and socialize so I have been cured" "Free space ("If you can play this game, you're obviously not autistic.") "The world will never change for us" "I hate autism and any auties who claim otherwise are either lying or not real auties since our life is miserable" "I might be okay if I were LFA and unaware I was autisti. But as an aspie all I feel is failure is failure & rejection. I want a cure." "I have a low IQ and I don't think those high IQ aspies understand that someone with my IQ needs a cure" "People with NT privilege should not celebrate their inner autie at the expense of those of us who don't have the luxury to pass" "I used to be autistic" "We are hurting to feelings of devoted parents and I think that hurts our community, so let's stop opposing a cure." "How dare you slander me by suggesting that I may still be autistic?" "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few; it is selfish of us to refuse to try to become neurotypical" "When the cure is discovered, all those other auties who say they don't want one will be lining up for one just like me" "I want to be cured so I can learn to talk, because you can't be happy if you can't talk" "Of course I want to be normal. Who doesn't?" The bottom of the bingo card says copyright 2004 A.M. Baggs. Feel free to reproduce for personal use, but do not sell or use for commercial purposes. Acknowledgments to "Breeder Bingo" for the concept"


Seclusion meme

Content note: Seclusion

A user on an Autism Hub blog made this graphic as a dark humor joke about how autistic people in educational and residential settings are often secluded. This was found on the Autism Diva blog. Artist unknown.

A grayscale image of a white woman with ear-length hair wearing a button-up shirt and pearls. She is smiling and pouring medication into her left hand. The image is captioned "that autistic kid is getting on my nerves. Stick him in the closet."

How Many Researchers See Autistics

Camille made this graphic as a quip about how autistic people are treated like lab rats by researchers, particularly scientists from the American Psychological Association (APA). 

A picture of a gray rat in a black background being shocked with zig zag lines colored red, orange, and yellow coming from a circle that surrounds the rat that is also red, orange, and yellow. There is a red stripe on the bottom of the image with the caption "How many researchers see autistics." in black text.

Katie McCaron Tribute

Content note: Filicide

Katie McCarron is an autistic girl who was tragically murdered by her caregivers in 2006. A user on an Autism Hub blog made this graphic to honor her life. Artist unknown.

A pink rose with the head of a little girl in the center. There is pink text that says "Katie McCarron" on the bottom.

Two autistic people named Janet Norman-Bain and the Camille Clark (aka Oddizms)  started a website that hosts the pictures and profiles of several autistic adults. This was done as a way to show that autistic adults existed, as many people back then thought autism was something only present in childhood. Many autistic people are showcased in this gallery, including prominent advocates like Savannah Logdsdon-Breakstone, Phil Schwarz, Kassiane Asasumasu, and Mel Baggs. 


Aspies For Freedom user Amy Nelson wrote a statement on November 16th, 2004, requesting that the United Nations declare Autistic people a minority group. It was not a successful campaign, but it is still a fascinating little piece of autistic history.  


Something About Us was a twenty minute documentary by Dinah Murray and Jes Benstock in collaboration with Autistic Self-Advocacy Network that showed the positive aspects of being autistic in direct contrast with how the media mostly portrayed autistic people. 

Unmasking the Face is a game created by Kathleen Seidel, inspired by Paul Ekman's book on nonverbal communication of the same name. It can be played in the link above.

Second Life is a multi-user virtual reality game from the late 90s. Several disability communities gathered on Second Life. It was advantageous for many of them. This article in the link above gives a rundown of what those interactions were like. More info can be found here.

Amy Nelson of Aspies For Freedom created several banners to use that are related to Autistic Pride and neurodiversity. Many of them can be found in the link above.

The email list alt.support.autism, which was most active in the early 2000s, had a website with general guidelines and frequently asked questions. It also has general information about autism and a number of resources. 

This is a New York Times article from 2004 that talks about neurodiversity. It mentions the Autistic Adults Picture Project.

This is an article from The Guardian from 2007. It mentions Aspies for Freedom and Jim Sinclair's Don't Mourn for Us.

Harvey Blume from the New York Times wrote an article in 1997 that discusses the ways autistic people communicated with one another through e-mail forums, namely InLv. 

This was written by Andrew Solomon for the New York Magazine. It covered topics such as the Ransom Notes Campaign, Kathleen Seidel's Neurodiversity.com, WrongPlanet, ABA, Temple Grandin, Jim Sinclair, and the so-called "Autism Wars". It contains some outdated language.

Autism site buttons

A picture of a cloudy sky with text that reads "This site is a member of the Autism Assembly"
A black background with several brains with different colors, including a rainbow colored brain, and text that says "honor neurodiversity"
A purple flower with green text that reads "Autism Web Ring" with a dark blue background
Yellow text that reads "AutiRing" surrounded by a pink circle and wavy bright colors

MAAP Archive

More Abled Autistic People (MAAP) was an organization started by parents of autistic people who were labeled "high functioning".  The use of functioning labels is rejected by the Neurodiversity Movement. Their archived site features letters to their director, Susan Moreno. Some of them are from autistic people. The letters and responses were given different sections depending on the topic. One of them was "The Autistic Adult" and another was "Living with HFA/Asperger's/PDD from the inside". It includes some of the oldest content uncovered for the archive. 

Language of Us/Them is a poem about how the way autistic people behave is labeled negatively compared to how neurotypical people are labeled positively for doing the same thing.

Allism or allistic is a term used often in autistic spaces to describe someone who is not autistic. This is the first use of the term. It is a parody of how autism is often described by professionals. 

This is an article from Telegraph UK from 2005 that mentions the Autistic Liberation Front

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