Do any of my fellow autistics wear an autism badge out and about?

I wear a sunflower lanyard tbh, because the reason I might need help or understanding might not always be the autism specifically, and some people can be really weird when they learn I have autism, they make a lot of assumptions about my competency, like I need help with some things specifically that doesn't mean pity or patronise me. So I prefer not to out myself that way, and really it's nobody's business to ask exactly what criteria (or in may case whole list of criteria) you meet that you require a sunflower lanyard anyway.
I don't use it for airports or to avoid wearing a mask but because sometimes I need just a bit more patience from staff, I have difficulty processing voices too so I can be slow to respond while I try work out what people said, but also I just cannot use a regular toilet cubicle if it's too narrow and especially if it doesn't have a hook on the door. GAD, OCD, and PTSD means I can panic in tight spaces and me and my stuff cannot touch either the floor or walls and if they do they become "contaminated" and I never have enough sanitiser on me to sanitise all of it including myself so it's just an immediate meltdown in a public loo and loss of executive function if that happens.

I have politely had to explain that to someone only once though, that yes I realise I'm not literally in a wheel chair but THAT is as a collective mess of things one of the areas where I am disabled so if the regular cubicles are a neordivergents' nightmare I need to use the big loo.

There are some areas where I live that, even if people consider you to be "different", they'll beat the s**t out of you - I know this because it's happened to me on a few occassions.

Strange thing is I've spent time in both the Philippines and China and yet I felt safer there at night than I did in some of the local areas here in Southampton!

I don't wear a badge, but I do have a very distinct "look / style."

I find that this is useful to alert people to the fact that I am probably a little bit "other."

I don't especially want people to know that I am specifically autistic (not ashamed, just can't bear inane questions about it) but I do think it is helpful to "them" and me if there is something evidently different about me.

I wore a sunflower lanyard in the lockdown when out walking. In case some police man accused me of spending more than my regulation one hour walking.

You have to do what makes you feel comfortable and if that helps when travelling or getting important things done its an aid to carry out tasks majority of people would find easy, we need them visual cues or aids, not for us but for others at times to understand us. 

What would cause anyone to harm someone with a disability just because they are letting the world know they may communicate differently? 

That makes me think of a "Beware of the dog" sign!

I have travelled a lot in the last year as my wife and I are currently long-distance, and after some bad experiences, I got a sunflower "hidden disabilities" lanyard for my last trip. I found airport staff and stewardesses were very helpful when they saw it. They didn't know I was autistic, just that I had some kind of issue that might make me struggle a bit. I'm trying to get in the habit of wearing it in other situations where I might come across as flustered and confused by social interaction and making on-the-spot decisions e.g. when I had to get some documents printed at the bank a while back.

I don't wear a badge or a lanyard, however I do carry an Autism card in my wallet though. While I'm not afraid of my Asperger's Syndrome, there are some people in my city would would probably knock ten bells out of me if they saw me wearing a badge or lanyard.

I have this sticker on my front door...

...to remind me where I live.  ;)

Roy I completely agree, this is something people should know about because the spectrum is so wide from one to the other. My life has been about trying to hide my differences to blend, being told to dampen down my academic abilities so others didn’t feel “dumb” I have now come to realise my autism makes me who I am and when I point out anomalies and flaws in systems and processes others can’t see that makes others uncomfortable because our skills and mind works different. We are different and we should embrace that ! X 

I would never ask someone with a white stick, “ how blind are you?” I don’t think you’re actually blind enough, it would never happen.  Autism is a condition that is recognised and exists. If wearing a badge helps you and lets others know why you are acting differently, it can only be a good thing. We are not second class citizens, we have a condition that should always be recognised and accommodated where possible.

I get that, why do we want to make it a “thing” and let some people tap into our vulnerabilities. The truth is though we live in a judgemental world whether we like it or not, I wouldn’t say I use autism as an excuse, it’s making people aware. I stopped wearing the badge because I hate any type of attention and I understand my social skills come across as ignorance, I like you would rather people think I’m rude.

Roy said:

all about education

Absolutely

Well done, autism is nothing to be ashamed of, it’s all about education. I get that others see us as just another person, disability isn’t always obvious. It’s often not their fault, they just aren’t used to us yet. They will learn!

but if you do that then you get them saying that your using autism as a excuse... i even see facebook posts like that, about using autism as a excuse for what they call bad behaviour.... like, wow, they dont think, its kinda like saying to leg amputees to not let their lack of legs be a excuse to stop them from standing up. so i generally would just take them thinking im rude instead, then if they call me rude ill call them rude back as its kinda rude to call someone rude anyway lol

Hi Rosina, 

I've been wearing the badge below for around 6 weeks now and it's really helped. I also typed a letter which i gave to the staff at my local Co-Op explaining that i'm autistic and might appear anxious, fumble my words, or seem rude sometimes and i'm glad i did. The staff in there are really friendly and i feel much more at ease. I'm happy for others to know i'm autistic but i can understand why others perhaps aren't 

I wear the sunflower lanyard in airports because it is recognised at airports and it allows staff members to be aware of my reactions when they need to stop me,and staff are trained in how to make the experience easier for me. I do not wear it anywhere else because it has no purpose for me or others outside of this setting. I have no need to shout about my autism nor feel proud of being autistic. Neither do I want to allow others to manipulate my vulnerability as some will surely do. Each to their own. Others may choose to wear badges. I prefer to be proud of who I am as a person and my autism is not all that I am. People accept me for who I am, not because of my autism,and that is how I am. You may choose to be different and use visual identifiers if you wish .Do what makes you happy 

I overdo it, and suspect that in my case it's a desperate thing, unfortunately.

Thank you. To me the jigsaw piece isn’t a negative connotation because others may see it as offensive for it being believed theres a piece missing I actually believe for me it represents the missing piece of the jigsaw I’ve been looking for all my life x