Poor Hygene as a Defense Mechanism

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Damn! I'm tired just from reading this list! I think I'm going to go take a nap:P ...

This is one of those things, along with coordination issues, that has me somewhat confused by whether I really have AS. I'm reasonably well coordinated, I'd think totally normal (my dad was really uncoordinated, and we think now may have had AS, and my mom was really athletic and the exact opposite). And I've always tried to do the appropriate things in terms of hygiene. And actually I really want to feel like I'm clean and that sort of thing (possibly OCD related!)

Coordination doesn't have to be impaired for AS. I have the best coordination (especially in hand-eye coordination, not so much in the feet) of anyone in my family. Of course, that may have just come from me playing video games all the time...

For me, I have severe sensory issues. I can't stand toothbrushes or anything in my mouth. I can use mouthwash though. As for showering, I do shower, but a lot of times I feel like someone above posted.
"People are gonna treat my like Sh*t anyhow, so why bother."
Also, I don't really like water spraying at me. I'd much rather be submerged in it, for example, swimming. I love swimming.

I'm with wolf pup here. I do things like taking a shower, or driving to work, sub conciously. When I take a shower, I generally go through programs I have to do that day, or talks I had the day before, or plan to have that day. I can tell you how I see how I feel, and how I feel most NTs feel.

Most NTs seem to feel like they have a little, or midrange computer to access. They can do things fast, but incomplete and may not know that much. They don't really have a taste of what they are missing. They tend to do a lot of things conciously, are easily distracted, and even what they think they can do well can be adversly affected by many things.

I feel like I have a little computer to access but that it is hooked up to a much larger system with a flimsy network. It can take me longer to ramp up, but I end up doing more, and may appear encyclopedic at times. I certainly have a taste of what I am missing. I almost envy some here that imply that they feel like they have direct access t those capabilities. I do a lot of things subconciously, and some things have hyperfocus. Some friends have found I just don't notice them when I am really involved with things.

HECK, sometimes I get 3/4 of the way to work before I ever think about the fact that I am driving. Yet I drive pretty well, managing distances all around.

As for the sweating, I HATE heat BUT, for some reason, use HOT water for showers and cleaning. Even deoderant helps though.

I totally agree with you! I am quite sensitive to every smell, the taste in my mouth, etc. I want it to be clean and perfect.

Also I like showering. It's a good place to get away, think, de-stress, and I like the feeling of it. It's a nice environment.

OK I just realized that showering is now going down as one of my hobbies!

I take at least two showers a day and brush my teeth way too much. I can't stand the stench of B.O.! Unless, of course, I am in one of my severe states of depression...

I'll second this one.

What poor hygene? Do AS people in general have poor hygene? I'm AS and i cant stand to leave my house without taking a LOOONNNGGG hot shower every morning.

Sounds too Freudian or something to me. People usually don't work like that.

i wouldnt think so. its all about priorities i think, washing up isnt high on my list of things to do

With me it's not the shower, but the bath. It doesn't actually matter when I bath, I just like to bath. I'd bath at 10 or 11 in the morning! It happened a lot while I was in-between jobs.

I like to settle down and - mark my words - talk to myself every time I walk into the bathroom. I say some pretty profound things to myself sometimes. I could spend up to half-an-hour in the bathroom, and fortunately my parents & I have a townhouse with 2 bathrooms

I'm not really shy to admit to people I talk to myself in the bath, but if I started to answer my own questions, THEN it's time to get worried And I even use the word "you", e.g. "He got on his bicycle and pedalled really fast down the road. You should've seen how fast he went!"

You summed up what I was going to say perfectly well. I consider myself a pretty neat person (probably even more than an average NT), but I dont follow the social "unwritten laws" about personnal hygiene, pretty much as I dont follow the unwritten laws about eating : I clean myself when I feel dirty, and I eat when Im hungry... no fixed schedules or routines for that.

I usually have a few coffees and smoke a few cigarettes in the morning (or early afternoon) while messing around with my computer or listening to music, then a good LONG shower officially starts my day. I brush my teeth at least once a day. As for changing clothes, smell or stains are my only criterions ; I usually get a new T-shirt once every 2-3 days and a new pair of jeans once every 5-6 days... no one ever complained about my personnal hygiene, despite the fact that I often have a strong cigarette odor (like any smoker for that matter).

Cleaning my apartment is more of an issue for me... thats mainly because very few people drop by, and I dont really see any inconvinients about my place not being 100% clean.

My mother would come after me because my bookbag was not in the right place in a room that otherwise hadn't been changed an inch. Then she came after me for not taking my shirt downstairs to the hamper. Then because I didn't hang my jeans up yet. Then because I didn't hang my pants properly and let them crease in the wrong place. Joan Crawford's hanger obsession had nothing on my mother.

Whoosh!

whoosh!

whoosh!

She even broke a metal one once. Usually the plastic ones broke but a metal one!

So when I escaped from having a rigid schedule when I started college classes in a program I did not want, I overscheduled myself with classes so I was only home to sleep AND my room exploded with unhung clothes and unopened letters now that I was in college where they sent out so much junk mail. I don't do it because it is in my nature to be a slob and a pig as she told me during those beatings over a bag or a hanger or a single article of clothing. She never cleaned the house so it was dusty but we weren't allowed to touch anything so it always looked the same so I definitely did not agree with her that those beatings were justified.

My little fragile x brother does not get ANY drama about the fact that he leaves used towels in his room instead of taking them downstairs immediately. He may have a pair of socks that doesn't make it to the hamper until the weekend. Not one word. It doesn't bother her all. I am now the permanent slob in my house but I am not the one who leaves dishes and food out. I'm the one who cleans it up after they have gone to bed. I never had food in my room growing up and my brother leaves glasses in his room for days. I do some tweaking for him when he is not home but I really believe that if my mother hadn't been unjust towards me, I wouldn't be in mental lockdown right now. It's not that I don't know better but I am just going to let it ride especially if she is in the living room, I won't even leave my room to pee if I am in a particular anti-her mood. She's like those damn p**** willows on my desk that I couldn't even look at to reach my bed. I take myself outside of her existence in my mind when I straighten up or cook. When I do anything household related I keep her out of the equation entirely.

For me, poor hygiene is just the result of my being too lost in my own little world to bother caring for myself. Nothing more.