Is there a connection between AS and body oder?

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All the people in my class this year and last year have asergers. They also all smell really bad!!
Whats up with all the nasty aspies?

As I understand it, it's not that they're biologically stinkier. It's just they aren't as aware of the requirements for hygiene. They may need to be coached. I needed just a little coaching myself.

On top of that, some might be sensitive to the chemicals in typical hygiene products, and may be opting for comfort over hygiene. I used to hate baths because the hot water and soaps would make my skin red and itchy for hours. Thankfully I grew out of that, and can adhere to societal hygiene standards now.

So some coaching and possibly alternative bathroom products may be the solution.

I've always perspired very easily for some reason.

I hated showers when I was younger. I hated the sensation of all of the individual water droplets hitting me, espcially my face and head. It was overhwleming. At some point I got over it and now I love showers. But I bet when I was a kid-teenager that I was pretty stinky. Even now I think nothing of skipping a shower for a day. Doesn't bother me.

I take my personal hygiene very seriously but I've noticed a lot on people on these forums seem to have an aversion to bathing. Don't ask me why, I've always found showers extremely relaxing, and it feels so nice to be clean too!

I'm extremely careful about my personal hygiene, probably because I was an early physical bloomer in grade school and was teased for the inevitable phase into deodorant usage. I had to do this at my own speed as no one explained to me that this was a social faux pas. I don't think it has to do with mental illness so much as stress which when I'm around other people I experience a lot of. It is indirectly related in my opinion.

I never really liked taking showers. My mom had a hard time getting me to take a shower every day. Now that I'm on my own, I may take 2-3 showers a week. The feeling AFTER the shower is great though.

Good grief, no!

So far this year, I've seen posts where people ask if Asperger's Syndrome causes, or is caused by:

• Body Odor
• Slouching
• Sexuality
• Eye Color
• Height
• Weight (Anorexia and Obesity)
• Intelligence (Genius I.Q. and Retardation)
• Hair Color
• Length, Shape, and Thickness of Fingernails
• Length and Shape of Fingers and Toes
• Medicines and Vaccines
• Fascination with Trains
• Fascination with Fire
• Fascination with Animals
• Fascination with Cartoons and Fiction
• Bedwetting
• Psychopathy, Schizophrenia, and Sociopathy
• Bipolar or Clinical Depression
• Certain Beverages or Foods
• Masturbation, Pornography, and Sado-Masochism
• Cults and Religions
• Psychic Abilities and the Paranormal

... and none of it is true!

It all Depend's on how you look at it.

I currently take hygiene very seriously and shower every morning. I enjoy showers and love the clean feeling I have for a while after taking one. When I was a kid/early teen I wasn't quite as hygienic as I should have been. Now that I think back on it I am quite amazed at some of the things I used to let slide back in the day. It was one of those Aspie things that I suppose I didn't naturally pick up on right away like others but I eventually learned on my own.

I do, however, seem to sweat more than the average female when I'm doing intense exercises. I think I sweat about as much as a man because at the end of some workouts I'm literally dripping with sweat. Soaking wet sports bra and everything.

Even if I showered every day, I'd have an odor problem, because I have a BO problem. However, this is made worse by the fact that I have bad knees, so it is hard for me to climb into and out of the tub for a shower, and it is also hard to stand there for the time necessary to take the shower. A tub bath is not an option, as it is too hard for me to sit down and get back up again in the tub, with my bad knees. I also don't like to spend the time on the shower, that could be used to do other things. I live alone, am disabled--so I no longer work, and I seldom go out, so I don't shower that often, mostly when I have to go some place. However, I will also shower on the hottest summer days, to cool off. I do like how clean I feel afterwards, and don't have an issue with the feel of the water on me. It's mostly just the time involved and my bad knees that keep me out of the shower. I do have an issue with some soaps and shampoos. The shampoos always make my scalp dry and itchy. The body washes and soaps do the same to my skin. I have tried many with no relief from that, and finally just settled for one that has a nice, fresh, non floral scent, because I like the smell. I buy the sale version of that scent in several cheap brands. It's usually called something like "Ocean Breeze," and comes in both shampoo versions and body washes. I don't like the flowery scented poos and soaps, but I do like this smell. Others I've spoken to about it also like it.

As for what RabidRabbit mentioned about high school hell--been through it myself. Puberty came with a big stink for me, and more persecution from the monsters I had to go to school with--like I didn't already have enough problems with those devils. Unfortunately, decades later, I still stink, often even just after a shower--in the summer at least.

Boy, you learn a lot on Wrong Planet. Yesterday, I learned aspies were fascinated by trains. Today I learn about the body odor business. News to me. I shower every day, though. I can see someone with hypersensitive skin issues eschewing baths. Kinda yucky, but hey, no judges here on WP, right?

Um, an Aspie sweats just as much as an NT, but maybe Aspies are less caring about their hygiene and so don't wash as regularly as most NTs?

Of course none of it is true - I can think of at least 10 of those things that describe every NT that I know.

But remember - it's a bit like with Alzheimer's disease, every week we find in the paper something else that ''causes'' Alzheimer's. One week eating too much chocolate causes it. The next week not enough chocolate causes it. The next week flying on planes causes it. The next week ear infections causes it. And none of it is true, it's just something people invent, to make the situation sound more worse than what it really is.
AS does not define every single little detail about a person. For example, I have no trouble with eating, practically everything agrees with me (only sugar free mints give me diarrhoea), but I often see NTs saying ''oh I can't have that, it reacts with my stomach'' or, ''oh I'm not having that again, it doesn't agree with me'', or, ''oh I can't eat that, it gives me stomachache.'' And these are foods like bananas, white bread, et cetera, not unusual foods.

OK some of these you pointed out might be more common in Aspies or more worth discussing among Aspies like depression and Bipolar, or intelligence (low or high IQ), but otherwise, things like eye colour, it's just pointless. My eyes don't look different to anyone else's, I mean not noticeably different. They are blue-ish green, big deal, it is not because I have got AS. It's because the family on my dad's side most have the same colour eyes. And hair colour, my hair colour is very common, it's not some sort of colour Aspies are meant to have. And height - I am 5 foot 5, OK? I'd be worried if I was 6 foot 9, I'd be worried if I was 3 foot 9, but I'm not, and anyway, everybody's different shapes and sizes anyway. Only dwarfs stand out, or incredibly tall people like 7 foot or more, but otherwise anything else is relatively normal. So....there I said it.

I have two moles on my knee - must be because I've got AS.

I'll add that one to the list.

• Knee Moles

Insufficient bodily hygiene contributes to certain odors needless to say.

However, when people feel anxious, fearfull and stressed the body produces more sweat that has a paticular sort of smell.
In other words, it is possible to literally smell fear and that is a fact. Since people with aspergers feel more stress and anxiety than the average NT because of the fact that we don't feel as comfortable around others, in certain situations and in society in general as they are. Certain emotions and feelings can lead to stronger body odors. Am I making myself clear? Probably not.

I don't know how old the other kids in your class are but hormones have an influence on body odor as well. Especially when you are in your teens.