One of the struggles that autistics face is the willingness to stay clean. While this may not be the case in all autistic individuals, this does come into play for many and is quite the struggle and often requires sometimes subtle or persuasive messages to take care of one’s hygiene.

Personal hygiene is something that I still struggle with to this day. I would be lying if I said that my personal hygiene was top par. It has gotten better but there is always room for improvement. In addition to realizing at times that it is a necessary evil that must be undertaken until days pass and it is of the utmost necessity, it can be put off just because of my disregard of interest in it in some cases, but not always though. There are times when I do become motivated to get clean for one reason or another because it is personally intriguing to me to do so.

When I do, even though it can sometimes be a struggle, I personally feel much better when I do something as simple as take a shower and put on a fresh set of clothes. It is often a struggle because it is a task that has embedded within it many subtasks that cause the body temperature and other senses to become very dysregulated and as such makes one very uncomfortable to manage to get through and as such struggle in completing the necessary tasks to ensure complete cleanliness.

No one has ever told me plain out that I had an odor other than my immediate family and I am grateful for being able to recognize the signs when it is necessary to take care of my personal hygiene. However, not everyone in the autistic community is so lucky. Their sensitivity to the elements of having to get themselves clean may be more intense than the tolerance that I have built myself up to withstanding them. It can cause a struggle in all sorts of relationships beyond the personal family unit and this can be an intense struggle for everyone involved and can result in bullying and other relatable actions. 

Yes, my parents have fought me tooth and nail on the fact of getting clean, including the times that they had to personally shave my face and even in my late teen years checking to make sure I was clean. I was certainly embarrassed of the fact that even into adulthood, especially at certain family celebrations, I had to be shaven by one of my parents because I struggled with this. Indeed, there are autistic individuals that do not have this capability and could possibly need assistance through their lifespans with the more intense, intricate personal tasks that can pose a challenge to their safety. I do understand the fact that not everyone is at my level of understanding when it comes to the point of personal hygiene, but if there are things that you can feel they can do on their own, then go for it and see what indeed they can do. 

Eventually, I had to come to my own terms on the necessity of personal hygiene and knowing that keeping clean is imperative to functioning in society. I had to accept that I am on my own now and am responsible for my own upkeep, whether I like it or not, personal hygiene is something that I had to learn to muster the courage to withstand on my own so I can function in society and not become an menace to others in the spaces that I occupy.