Being autistic, it can be hard to sense that matters how we look. I had to learn that impressions are everything and how I look can make all the difference no matter where I go. I had to learn how to have standards in myself and be the best that I can be when I am out in public. Even if it is hard to put in the work that is needed to make sure that I am looking good, it may not matter to others, but it should at the least matter to me.

There is often a struggle due to sensory issues in caring for oneself. There can be several complicated steps that makes doing what is needed to care for our bodies cumbersome. It takes putting things in ways that work the best for us. One of the biggest parts that made me begin to realize and accept that I had to do the work that needed to be done was the fact that others looked good in my opinion and I wanted that for me too.

It meant that I had to get up or end my day a little early to make sure that I was able to do what I needed to do to make sure that I was clean. There was also the fact that there was a need to be clean for the places that I had to go, and I did not want any comments to be said about my appearance. It took me actually caring about my body to see that was a reason to care about being clean and how I presented myself in the outside world.

While I had to let go of what other people thought, I still had to do my best to ensure myself that I was doing what I could to be my best self. I had to let go of disregarding the disheveled self that I had been for a long time because I had known that no one else wanted to see that. It took having dignity for myself and respecting my body for what it was knowing that I had to do what it took to look nice by cleaning and dressing it appropriately.

It can be hard getting into the practice of wanting to begin to want to take care of your body. Unless you have the desire, you will not want to. It is bringing a sense of want and desire to feel good about yourself and loving yourself too that can make all the difference in knowing how important it is to do what you need to do to take care of yourself.

Is it hard at times to do what I need to do to care for myself? At times, yes. But I push through it because I know that I need to. I know that I will eventually be happy and proud of myself that I did after I do what it takes to look my best because I know I want it and others do too.