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me but with sleep
That makes perfect sense. When you go to sleep, today ends, you skip forward to tomorrow, and a new day that’s usually filled with work, chores, and other unpleasant stuff begins. And when you wake up in the morning, you have to face the new day.
Awwww
I have since learned that for me, this is difficulty with transitions combined with sensory aversion, which can be accommodated for!
For the transition, I put on a high reward podcast before even beginning to head toward the shower. Shifting from X to Y is challenging, but shifting from enjoying a podcast while X to enjoying that same podcast while Y reduces the contrast and makes it easier.
For the sensory issues, battery operated bar lights instead of the overhead light, soap that I look forward to smelling even though it costs a little more, and an IKEA folding seat in the shower (sometimes standing is hard)
Those aids are like, the opposite of mine, lol. I hate stopping a rewarding activity. The best way I’ve found to get tasks done that are onerous are setting a schedule and then stubbing my toe. The enjoyable nature of the shower is the same way: I just don’t like ending the warmth and solitude.
Turns out most of my sensory problems have to do with my hair and my face. As long as I’ve had my coffee (start up metabolism and keep me warm after leaving the shower) I can stand 5-10 minute “body showers”. I also have music or YouTube running on my speaker and a heater running in the bathroom. I can FINALLY regularly shower, in my 20s. Washing only my body also doesn’t seem to feel like the transition that getting my head soaked does.
A lot of people are nervous to talk about hygiene, because NT people simply do not understand the struggle it can be for neurodivergent people, especially those of us on the spectrum. But I think it’s important so we can share our strategies, and shame about it just isn’t good.
Holy shit me
Me
