The response to the concerned parent that her daughter has “zero sense of personal hygiene” did not include the possibility that the daughter may not have the same sensory experiences as the mother (My daughter hardly bathes and her room is smelly, but says she doesn’t care, June 14th). The situation coincided with my own, in relation to my stepson’s lack of awareness of hygiene and smells.
Some neurodivergent individuals do not experience sensory input in the same way as the neurotypical, and my stepson simply would not register what we might experience as overpowering smells or a “disgusting” cluttered room. I am not insisting that the daughter in this case is neurodivergent; I just wanted to raise the idea that we don’t all experience sensory information in the same way, and open up the chance for communication about these differences.
Name and address provided
