Noise or change to routine - an autistic's nightmare dilemma

This week has been a bit fraught in anticipation of next week when we’re expecting building works next door. We autistics hate disruptions to our routines but sensory overload is another one of those things which bothers us greatly. I think it bothers most people but many autistic people just can’t switch off. Just as many of us love certain songs music, we can have extreme reaction to other sounds (and indeed other senses). Chris Packham addressed this in his recent programmes 'Inside The Autistic Mind'. He mentioned the apparent contradiction of sensory avoidance and sensory seeking eg loving certain music or sounds of nature etc.

But I'm mainly talking about sensory avoidance today. So for me, I'm hugely distressed by unexpected noise like scaffolders, impact noise - footsteps above me or sudden bangs from the floor above me or next door. It makes living with neighbours distressing and having to rely on their goodwill. If soundproofing isn't ideal that only adds to the distress. I will talk about this more in a later blog in relation to my one of my books but I don't have the spoons at the moment to put it together at the moment.

Last time during lockdown we had the balcony above us done and the hammering and crashing pounded and resounded through our small abode and we couldn’t escape during lockdown. I had a migraine on one day and ended up shouting at the builders. Our housing association hadn’t given us any warning either. So this time and armed with a diagnoses I have taken the bull by the horns and we’ve decided to escape. Autistics like to know exactly what will happen and when but the weather might be bad and so the builders might delay and that’s all another grist to our anxiety mill. 

Other things that I've always hated and had no idea they were related to autism (in me), is phones suddenly ringing. When I was a child and teenager they didn't go to answerphone either. You will see a picture of the kind of phone we had in the 1960s in my video although I didn’t have to deal with the phone as a child. One such phone features in my novel ‘Did You Whisper Back?' which I’ll discuss more another time. 

Later we had a plastic 1970s phone and it would just ring and ring until someone answered the bugger, or until it finally rang off! I always feared if it was someone for me. I didn’t realise but other autistics have said that they feel better when they do the phoning. I’ve always said this too, as I’m more in control, although I hated ever having to do this in front of other people eg at work. Then there’s the doorbell. That sudden urgent noise through the house, especially when it’s unexpected.

There's also visual sensory overload. I hate flashing lights and don't even start me on GIFS! They can trigger all sorts of reactions and conditions in the neurological sensitive eg migraines and are a factor in other conditions such as agoraphobia, more about which another time.

So, not much about writing today. Just to say my special interests get disrupted with any upheaval. I can’t carry on with chaos or interrupted routines. I have had to choose between disruption to routine or noise for several days. Not a great choice!

As ever, I’d love to hear your own thoughts. So please do leave a comment here or on my video which I’ll be uploading to the usual places.