The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

Pyxis

GDB2222 wrote: »

I just googled hyperacusis and it sounds really difficult to live with. Related to tinnitus.

Some musicians who suffer from it wear ear plugs or something over the ears, according to Wikipedia.

I think Pastures has mentioned before that not being able to hear what might be going on can create more anxiety, so earplugs may not be an option.

I do feel that explaining her anxieties to the newcomers might be the best bet. If they are reasonable people, they will understand, and if they are not, then nothing would work anyway.

Also, I've found in the past that, if you can get to know people just a little, they become less anxiety-producing. Similiarly, if you know the children a little, they might be a nice surprise!

It could save weeks of anxiety.

Worth an approach, then?

What do you think, Pastures?



If not a face-to-face chat, maybe a carefully worded letter put through the doors of the house with children, explaining all this, would also help.


I'd be prepared to put something together for you, Pastures, if you like.

GDB2222

Pyxis wrote: »

I think Pastures has mentioned before that not being able to hear what might be going on can create more anxiety, so earplugs may not be an option.

I do feel that explaining her anxieties to the newcomers might be the best bet. If they are reasonable people, they will understand, and if they are not, then nothing would work anyway.

Also, I've found in the past that, if you can get to know people just a little, they become less anxiety-producing. Similiarly, if you know the children a little, they might be a nice surprise!

It could save weeks of anxiety.

Worth an approach, then?

What do you think, Pastures?



If not a face-to-face chat, maybe a carefully worded letter put through the doors of the house with children, explaining all this, would also help.


I'd be prepared to put something together for you, Pastures, if you like.

Very cheap ear defenders only reduce the noise. So, PN could still be aware of what's happening, but it might reduce the noise enough to be bearable. At under £3, possibly worth a try?

The more expensive ones are designed to take out low frequency noises, whilst leaving speech still intelligible. So, the wearer could be free of all the doof doof noises from ball games, whilst still being able to hear the neighbours' arguments clearly. Best of all worlds, but at a significantly higher price.

Pyxis

GDB2222 wrote: »

The more expensive ones are designed to take out low frequency noises, whilst leaving speech still intelligible. So, the wearer could be free of all the doof doof noises from ball games, whilst still being able to hear the neighbours arguments clearly. Best of all worlds, but at a significantly higher price.

wow! They sound good!

PasturesNew

Pyxis wrote: »

What do you think, Pastures?

I'll stick to my usual Plan A: hope it doesn't happen/hope they move/hope somebody else says something to them about something.

PasturesNew

Hearing/not. You do need to be able to hear what's going on, in order to halt poor behaviour and nip it in the bud long before it becomes "what they've always done".

One day, for example, I heard a different DOOF noise... it was one standing 3' in front of my car, facing the bonnet, DOOFing a football over the entire length of my car so it bounced off the wall I'd reversed up against. If I'd not gone out and given it "OI" that'd have escalated into a "competition" with 2-3 of them to see how high, how hard they could do it, from how far away ... etc.

"Nip it in the bud" ... always a good move.

That is, too, also, "all my freehold land". So glad I have that banner to wave... it's not leasehold, it's not common, it's not shared, it's mine and I can give it "OI!" when required.... but you do need to hear noises to know what sort of activities are occurring out there - and the change of tone when you know "they've just found something new/naughty to do"... because you can detect that through change in noise.

GDB2222

PasturesNew wrote: »

I'll stick to my usual Plan A: hope it doesn't happen/hope they move/hope somebody else says something to them about something.

Probably just as well to avoid any of my suggestions, as it turns out they are counter-productive. According to the NHS website:
"not using earplugs or muffs (these may make your ears more sensitive)".

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hyperacusis/

This part of the website is wonderful - the part listing all the different conditions. It's a great opportunity for hypochondriacs like me to imagine they've got a touch of everything going.

SingleSue

Joe is very sensitive to noise, it was one of the reasons he 'failed' all his year 6 SATS....he was so freaked out by the noise of pencils scratching on paper and it was so unbearable that he was either hiding under the table crying or running from the hall.

LydiaJ

PasturesNew wrote: »

I'll stick to my usual Plan A: hope it doesn't happen/hope they move/hope somebody else says something to them about something.

Then I am afraid you will continue to be made miserable by it, PN, because if you choose to do nothing, you are pretty much choosing for the situation to continue.

vivatifosi

SingleSue wrote: »

Joe is very sensitive to noise, it was one of the reasons he 'failed' all his year 6 SATS....he was so freaked out by the noise of pencils scratching on paper and it was so unbearable that he was either hiding under the table crying or running from the hall.

Hope you don't mind me asking Sue, but what solution did you arrive at for future exams?

I'm interested in solutions as in the UK there is a broad drive to make libraries autism friendly.

PasturesNew

LydiaJ wrote: »

In fact, not only do I not mind about next door's children, I've specifically told the parents they're welcome to send them through the gate or over the fence to use our trampoline, if the parents will take full responsibility for them while they're on it.

That's known children, of a known neighbour, your choice.

These are random strangers' children, from the next road along ... and they are the children who let themselves into the new build next door early one evening and turned on/left the garden tap running full .... which I went over and turned off and got another neighbour to keep an eye out..... if I'd not heard it, it would've run for days.

This is the trouble with "random kids". This isn't "playing", it's "looking for places to be naughty in and looking for naughty things to do" - and round the side of my house there's opportunity to be naughty and "out of sight".

I caught that little lad standing near my car throwing stones over the fence into his road's parking area. He couldn't have seen where they'd land. I don't want stone throwers loitering around being a nuisance.... getting up to naughty things.

They already have, therefore, a track record for letting themselves in through people's garden gates and doing things they shouldn't be doing, in places they shouldn't be.

I should add, maybe, that once they're "out of sight" ... there's plenty to fiddle with, including my tap, climbing over my fence, my gas box/cupboard and my wall-mounted postbox. Things I don't want anybody fiddling with .... in MY garden.