One of the struggles I face as an autistic person is something called interoception, and it affects my everyday life more than most people realize.
Interoception is the ability to recognize and interpret signals from inside your body. Things like hunger, thirst, fullness, needing to use the bathroom, feeling too hot or cold, or recognizing when something is physically wrong.
My brain doesn’t always recognize or properly interpret these signals.
I don’t always know when I’m hungry. I can go hours without eating because my body doesn’t communicate hunger to me in a way I can recognize. Sometimes I don’t realize I need food until I’m feeling physically unwell.
I also struggle to recognize when I’m full. I don’t always receive that internal signal telling me I’ve eaten enough, which makes something as simple as eating a meal more complicated than people understand.
Even knowing when I need to use the bathroom is difficult. I don’t always recognize the sensation until the need becomes extremely urgent. It’s not because I’m ignoring my body. It’s because my brain struggles to process what my body is trying to tell me.
Imagine living in a body that doesn’t consistently tell you what it needs.
Imagine having to consciously think about things that most people do automatically. Imagine needing reminders to eat, drink, or use the bathroom because you can’t reliably depend on your own internal signals.
It’s exhausting having to constantly monitor basic bodily needs that other people rarely have to think about.
This is one of the many invisible challenges of living with severe autism. People see that I can speak, create beautiful artwork, and communicate my thoughts, but they don’t see how much I struggle with basic daily functioning.
Being verbal doesn’t mean my brain processes everything typically. Being talented doesn’t mean I’m independent. And being able to explain my disability doesn’t make that disability any less severe.
Interoception difficulties aren’t laziness, irresponsibility, or a lack of self-awareness. They’re a real neurological challenge that can significantly affect someone’s ability to care for themselves.
I wish more people understood that autism isn’t just about social communication or sensory sensitivities. It can affect how we experience and understand our own bodies.
Sometimes the hardest part of being autistic is struggling with things that other people never even have to think about. 💜♾️
