Noise where I live and wanting to move

I have mentioned this issue many times on this forum, but things are coming to a head. As you may be aware, I was having significant issues with light disturbance from the adjacent street-lamp despite having black-out blinds, thick black-out curtains and net-curtains. Anyway, while the light still shines harshly at all hours, my Dad has helped me out with a one hundred pound black-out blind/shutter, which fits right across the window, thus almost completely solving this problem. But do I now get a good night's rest on most nights? The answer is a resounding 'no'; and this is because of noise and living next to a through-road.

Because this flat is my very first experience of living independently, when I moved out I was naive enough not to consider possible noise issues from the street. This is because I previously lived  down a quiet residential road, and my parents did not mention this issue when I moved.

Anyway, this week I have been woken up by students and twice by a car revving its engine. Last night this said car woke me up at 2am, and I could not get back to sleep, therefore only managing about three hours!. I am exhausted, and this is re-occuring theme. Therefore, I want to move because I cannot put up with this for much longer, and I currently dread going to bed because I know that noise will disturb me. Even when it is quiet, I am waiting in anticipation for the next noise-intrusion and this is affecting my quality of life.

I have tried ear-plugs and they do not work.

What can I do? I have a CPN and a support-worker.

  • I use blutack rather than ear plugs as it works better than all the ear plug brands I've tried. Mold a huge blob of it so it completely covers the ear hole and surrounding area. I also sleep on the floor in my flat's hallway (no external walls) at weekends when the drunken screaming from the street is continuous until dawn. It's perfectly comfortable with yoga mat plus duvet to sleep on top of, and darker as a bonus.

    I've considered moving but can't get anywhere with letting agents.

  • I have autism met my husband live next to a pub hotel I spend all day every day hearing drunk people and we both disabled so cannot move on benefits husband owned the flat before me. No idea of rules from the overload I've injured myself burned myself fallen over breaking my foot because the noise overwhelms my ability to focus live on second floor crutches upstairs is scary

  • I have autism met my husband live next to a pub hotel I spend all day every day hearing drunk people and we both disabled so cannot move on benefits husband owned the flat before me. No idea of rules from the overload I've injured myself burned myself fallen over breaking my foot because the noise overwhelms my ability to focus 

  • Good luck with the housing.

    Auditory sensitivity is a neurological disability, causing stress and its associated health problems. Because our brains are not going to change and we are always going to be sound sensitive, it is up to society to create autism-friendly living environments. Houses should be built with strong sound insulation and thicker walls, but sadly social housing is under-funded and over-subscribed, an issue that urgently needs addressing.

    I think Longman has mentioned the disparity between the lived experience of having autism and the overly narrow interpretation in the triad of impairments. Certainly the problems with sound and light do not get the research or the attention they deserve.

    It is even the case that prolonged exposure to noise could make us more sensitive. Since living at this flat I am aware that noise is bothering me even more than it used to, even in environments I used to think of as quiet.

  • Good that there might be movement.  I also had a call from a council care manager, who said she is going to chase up the DFG and if that's a no-go (which I wouldn't bother fighting if they say no because as you say, there is hassle involved with it even if you get it) will write me a report to help us get higher banding with the council (we don't even want a council house we want HA assistance either through shared ownership, equity loan or renting but the law says that the council rules have to apply) as they previously banded us D.  So I hope that if we get a report from her we will get higher banding as no-one below band A or B ever gets prioritised.  As three of us have autism and I constantly get disturbed by noise too we really want to move.  What impacts me impacts us all as a family is a unit, and we all have auditory sensitivity.  I've always hated where we live and this has just made it a nightmare.  It's high time LAs prioritised autism.

  • I have had a conversation with my CPN and she has arranged to see me at 10.30am on Wednesday to further discuss the issue of moving.

    She told me she will write a supporting letter, so hopefully I will get onto Band A for medical grounds: existing housing is making my condition worse.

    I also talked to my dad about it yesterday. He always tells me how quiet my flat seems, but then he only visits during the day, has only slept there once (when the students were home for the holidays), and does not have my noise issues.

    My dad eventually listened to me and became more sympathetic to my needs. He will help me look for more suitable housing. So I am feeling a bit more positive now.

  • Sweet revenge Tongue Out

    I finally summoned the courage to speak to my support-worker about the issue yesterday evening. I was so glad to speak my mind and get it off my chest, as so often I assume the stiff-upper-lip and pretend that everything is ok - denial is my usual coping strategy.

    My support-worker will phone my CPN up on my behalf on Monday morning to arrange an appointment. My support-worker assured me that my CPN would probably succeed in getting me onto band A because my housing is unsuitable to my needs as a disabled person, and lack of sleep is one form of neglect. If my CPN cannot do this I will have to change CPN.

    I have considered DFG, but understand that it can take a long time just to get assessed, up to 6 months, and it is not guaranteed that any sound-proofing would work; I already have double-glazed windows. I think moving is the better option in the long-run, and I think I will feel better just knowing that the ball is rolling, so to speak.

    Thanks for the information.

  • It's definitely worth fighting for somewhere quieter, I hope you can get it sorted. I had a similar problem when I moved into a student flat, I found it really hard but I would put my iPod on at night to try and calm me down so I could focus on something else. i don't know if that would help you, but worth a try. I also got so angry with my flat mates one time when they came in at 5.30am being really noisy and then spent a couple of hours talking loudly, I was so angry with them I played 'Prodigy' on full blast at 8.30, it hurt my own ears but was well worth it to wake them up and see how they liked it... They didn't like it at all. 

  • Or apply for the DFG for soundproofing funds.

    I did, awaiting outcome but have asked them that if I'm not eligible (legally I'm sure I am but as autistic people are probably unaware of being able to apply there is no precedent I imagine) they write me a report supporting medical need and get us a much higher grading to move us up the list for HA assistance.

    You may have a fight on, but I totally get the problem and it might be worth the fight.

  • From years on committees addressing equality or disability the answer should be yes, but councils vary, and the whole issue is thorny to say the least.

    One of the sticking points that comes up time and time again is finding quiet accommodation for people with autism. Those little bungalows are usually prioritised for wheelchair users, and it is very hard to convince councils that a mobile person with autism should have one.

    The tendancy is to shove people with autism into a ghetto of little flats, with no regard for wellbeing, and often in some patch of land on the edge of the worst possible social housing, that makes it scarier to go to and from them at night. Or the bin stores and alleyways under the single person flats become a favourite haunt for druggies, or they back on to waste land used as a kick-around or trying out battered old motorbikes. Councils are frequently really ignorant when placing special needs accommodation. There seems to be a mindset that you squeeze small unit complexes into some corner out of sight.

    There's this general article on social housing that highlights the cost problems that lead to silly locations www.theguardian.com/.../building-affordable-homes-policy

    The way out is to avoid the social housing market and try to find an independent private sector let that achieves your objectives. Or if you can get financial help try a purchase from a housing association which combines part ownership and rent.

    Otherwise what you need to do is look at your local council web pages for committees and meetings, find the next meeting with public speaking rights (usually question tabled in advance) that is relevant to social housing and special needs, and make your predicament known at that. Contact your local councillor and ask him/her to point you to the right one and go along with you. That is the most effective way of flagging up an issue. At some such meetings the press are present and they will home in on a good story.

  • I envy you Longman Money Mouth. But hopefully I will be as lucky as you one day Smile

    In the meantime do you or anyone else know how best I can approach the powers that be to try and move to a quieter location? Would they take my disabilty into account?

  • I've just had the reverse. The last twenty years up to a year ago I was living on a street at the entrance to an estate, so there was always a lot of traffic and nocturnal noise, especially noisy pub homecomers, car alarms, house alarms, milk floats, early start construction work, barking dogs...... Plus a busy railway line across a small valley, and overflying planes and helicopters

    I've now moved to a cul-de-sac. What bliss, I now risk oversleeping its so quiet.

    I'm badly affected by noise, escially complex mixes of sounds rather than volume. My brain seems to try involuntarily to seperate them out, like I need to make the situation any worse.

    Have you tried sleeping with the radio on, such as a music station you like, or a CD player or ipod on repeat. This could be at a low volume, just enough to create white noise that's reassuring. You can get CDs of natural sounds. By this I mean room sound not ear plugs.

    If you can condition yourself to sleep with this as background, and I realise it may take time, it will eventually compensate periodic noise with threshold white noise.

    I don't do this myself, but I know people who do. Also if bothered by moving light from passing cars, having a low luminance light on all night can help.

  • Also loud construction work near-by has been going on since last year, thankfully not at night, but during the day it sounds like machine artillery!. They are building a new housing development, which will only mean more noise (cars and people) in the long-run. God I hate society sometimes. Noise is making me ill.