Really ready to sleep in school
Dad reports:
Sometimes as Tommy heads to school he hollers, "bye!" and I do the same. Today I happened to give him a critical eye as he prepared to walk out the door. His belly protruded from his shirt and his arms buldged in his sleeves that reminded me of Lou Ferrigno about to bust through his clothing. Tommy was dressed but still wearing his sleep shirt (Tommy prefers medical scrubs), and one that needs to go away. As I type this it occurs to me deoderant probably didn’t come into play this morning. I felt relieved that he didn’t go to school that way. He would have received quite a good teasing. It’s 2.7° C outside and I could not convince him to take a coat.
Aspies, as hyper-focused as they can be on something, can be equally as unfocused on other things. We all have walked around oblivious to our fly being open and we joke about forgetting to wear our pants on our wedding day but people point these things out to us and we laugh them away. Would Tommy have eventually noticed or if someone pointed it out would he have just smiled? In either case would he have called home for a shirt or just carried on?
Hygiene is a constant issue with an Aspie (any teenager for that matter). With an Aspie it seems to be more of a battle. More than one bath a day is out of the question. Being told that "you smell funny" is down right insulting and a point for agrument "I do not!" Last night I asked, "when was the last time you brushed your teeth?" To which the reply was, "uuh. I can’t remember." Thank goodness we have the desire for routine on our side. Now as parents we simply have to be diligent police until the habit forms.