Hygiene Extremes

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Aspies and ASD'ers have a reputation for poor hygiene; however, I have a theory that the real issue is hygiene extremes. I think that some have very poor hygiene, others probably have very good or excessive hygiene.

Personally, I sometimes shower 3 times a day and brush my teeth 2-3 times a day. Also, I wash my hands fairly often (probably only average here) and freak out about dirt and smells. So, rather than being atypical, I think there is probably a subset of the ASD population that fits this.

I don't floss nearly enough though, maybe once a week, at most, so even within one person, these things can be variable, although having a quality electric tooth brush obviates some of the need.

Exactly what one was thinking. My room is either boot camp-clean, or Sherlock Holmes-filthy. Rarely somewhere in-between. I either wash all the dishes, or leave a week's worth festering in the sink. I either shower twice a day at the same approximate time and order, and shave, floss, and brush my teeth, or not at all for a week or two. I cannot think of my motivations for doing so at the moment.

I'm pretty much the norm, but maybe it's only because I cannot stand to smell unpleasant body odor. I shower once a day, maybe twice if it's really hot out. I brush twice a day and floss once. I wash my hair with shampoo once a week, because it's a lot of work, but I rinse it almost daily. I really hate it if I ride public transportation and somebody smelly boards the bus. Their B.O fills the bus and often forces me to disembark two or three stops before I need to.

If 2+ days is awful then I'm really awful. I've gone a lot longer than that.

2+ days without showering is not at all awful...

I voted for "awful" going by the definition provided. But I personally don't think my hygiene is awful and no-one has every complained about it. I do think what most people think of as "typical" is unnecessary...

I usually have two baths a week (sometimes only one) - I used to shower but that was much more irregular, maybe once every couple of weeks... I prefer baths.

My hair gets washed when I have my bath. It gets tidied up (possibly wet combed) if I'm leaving the house, but generally doesn't need much as it is so short.

Regards dental hygiene I brush my teeth twice a day - but it's really a cursory thing ... I hate it and don't do it very thoroughly. I never floss because I hate it.

I don't wash my hands much - and incidentally I rarely get sick and when I do get a cold it is always less severe than everyone around me. I think we need to be exposed to things to build up our resistance...

I wear the same clothes (excluding knickers & socks which I usually change every day) for several days at a time, until I decide they look too dirty.

I am a mix of ocd clean and filth dirty. I have gone years where ive showered maybe 20 times and brushed my teeth same..and ironically i dont smell/look all that bad...but here's the thing i always wash my hands a million times before i eat, and when buying items such as soap or food i take the boxes from the back because idont want people touching them...i also use hand sanitizer often like after touching shopping carts. Another weird thing is that even though i practically never shower/brush my teeth, when ido these things I do them RIGHT. I use the best shampoos and soaps and spend an hour in the shower washing every nook and cranny..same with toothbrushing i brush my teeth with the best suplies and spend time doing it right.
Im going to try to get my hygiene under control...jsut bought a bunch of new supplies including an arm and hammer pro whitening spin brush! Also got some fiji old spice body wash and a back reacher loofa.

oh and my laundry habits are the worst.

lmao id consider that an epic accomplishment.

I take a bath and wash my hair most nights out of the week. I brush my teeth two times a day. I've been flossing every night for the past two weeks. I use a mouth wash when I remember. I need to work on remembering every night.

I would seriously love to remember to floss my teeth EVERY day. I get to do it about 2-3 times a week and I wear braces, yuck! I'm like others here who are either OCD clean some days or filthy dirty other days. I have very long hair so only wash it once or twice a week with a good clarifying shampoo. I rarely condition, just rub in some oil (like that new kind, forget the name, but it's in everything now). I'm into old-fashioned remedies like mayo in my hair then sleep with it wrapped in a towel sort of things. Eggs condition hair really, really well, but don't leave in over night the smell is.... unpleasant.

Nothing works better for me then keeping it simple and natural. For those of us with sensory sensitivities I find unscented products to be great. Some how I've never minded the smell of vinegar though.

I must admit to being a clean freak...i like to feel clean and shower at least twice a day....i also love the feeling of clean teeth
I don't think my AS has anything to do with it...i am just a clean person by nature

once I went for over 6 months with out a shower or bath. During a time with a not very good caregiver.

I think that hygiene issues can be more severe for children on the autistic spectrum, and I think that people tend to let their biases get in the way of understanding problems common to many on the spectrum.

I also agree with Tuttle that going 2+ days without showering is not awful. I am not sure where awful actually is, but that's a low bar.

There are many reasons that autistic people might have hygiene issues - sensory issues, for example. Or executive function issues. I know I experienced some severe difficulties after a sudden, unexpected change in my environment and routine and I was not able to adapt properly before the environment was returned to a more typical state.

Adaptive and self-help skill delays are common for autistic people, even among those diagnosed with AS, and despite the AS criteria that states that such delays should not be present.

I have to be told to wash my face, shower, brush teeth etc. However, I'm very good about washing my hands. I wash my hands whenever I go outside, use bathroom (of course), Touch animals, Touch other people (sort of), or touch pretty much anything that I consider gross. I went outside with someone to pet / say hi to my dog and when we got back in he didn't wash his hands. I said, "Aren't you going to wash your hands?" He was confused and asked me why he would wash his hands. It took some convincing for him to finally wash his hands, it kind of bugged me.

I never wash my hands when petting my dog...he is a part of the family. i kiss him on the lips all the time.

Poor hygiene here. Been trying to fix that recently, but it's hard breaking routine, as Autistics know this by exerience. Also extremely lazy.