Support Needs - Tumblr Posts

I’ve brushed my teeth at least once a day for two whole weeks!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!

This may not seem like a big deal for a lot of people but I’m really proud of myself for this!

I know to a lot of people, especially abled people (whether physically or mentally abled), the idea of not brushing your teeth regularly is gross or “repulsive” or makes someone disgusting and what not, but I think we need to accept that not everyone can engage in hygiene practices the same way as everyone else. Just because someone cannot brush their teeth, or shower, or brush the their hair daily or even weekly does not make someone less than or gross or less deserving of anything. We are all people and we all deserve the same respect and we all deserve to feel safe in this world. Everyone has different abilities and support needs. Everyone is their own person and can do what they’re able to and should not be forced to do more than they’re able to do safely or comfortably. Someone may choose to do more but they should not be forced to by others.

Disabled people are people and deserve the same respect as everyone else.

My ability to take care of myself changes daily sometimes even throughout a day and I shouldn’t feel like I’m being judged for doing the best I can when it doesn’t match what others think my best should be.

TL;DR: Someone’s ability to engage in hygiene practices should never ever determine their worth!!!!

EDIT: (September 6th, 2023) I am so proud of everyone in the replies/reblogs who struggle with hygiene too! You are all doing so good and you should be proud of what you’re able to do!

Makes more sense to me now. Maybe I should admit to myself that I have higher support needs than I thought/than I used to, regardless of why, instead of wasting precious time/energy trying to find EXACTLY the reason. Knowing stuff is important but taking care of self should be more important to me.

Btw, "support needs" aren't there to describe how your autism impacts your ability to perform IADLs and BADLs - they're there to describe how much support you need with IADLs and BADLs in general.

If you can't perform IADLs, it doesn't matter why. What matters is that people know that you need help with IADLs.

I often see autistics say something like "I don't know if I'm low support needs or medium support needs because I have so many additional things, I don't know what's because of my autism and what's because of these other things" - it doesn't matter!

Are you having bad motor skills and balance issues because of your autism or because of another developmental thing? It doesn't matter, these things influence each other and make you you. You're struggling with IADLs and maybe BADLs, that's what's important, not why.

If you're focusing on autism, that's support levels as in the DSM-5, but the DSM-5 doesn't care if you can perform IADLs and BADLs to assign you an autism level.

This is the difference between autism/support *levels* and support *needs*.

Support needs are about the ability to perform IADLs and BADLs, not about why.

Ok? Ok. 👍🏼