#as long as ur not weird or a dick about it obvs

Just thinking about how hygiene is so tied to social norms and expectations, especially when you’re supposed to be learning about it as a kid and hitting hygiene milestones I guess. Like, my mum washed my hair for me until I was 10? 11? I might even have already got my period, I can’t remember, but it was sometime around then. And again idk if this was on my parents for not telling me or if this is generally supposed to be something neurotypical kids pick up on their own when they’re younger, but I sure didn’t pick up on it until then. Same with the showering thing, had to pick up on it by people talking to me about how gross people who don’t shower often enough were (when I was there internally being like “but I only shower once a week, although I masked enough to know not to say that out loud lol).

I think some of it was lack of education/support about hygiene from my parents/school but I think that lack of education and support is there because parents and teachers assume kids are allistic, neurotypical and abled and will a. naturally pick up on it and b. not struggle with it at all (even though doing things differently than you’re used to can be hard for any kid)