British Museum

Yeah, definitely. New career move?

Yeah, I'd say try them. Well worth the money. They have loaaads of anti-reflective coating on the inside and outside of the lenses too. The good stuff they put on watches and high-end camera lenses. All the other stuff at that price point has half the features. Titanium frames and titanium oxide nose pads too, so the nose pads don't go yellow with sweat, and they are light.

I should be a salesman, lol, I just read that!

Lol! Great tip on the sunglasses though. I love the idea of the vivid colours. I usually get prescription glasses and I’ll still get a pair of subscription ones, but I had already decided on a non prescription pair as well for when I wear contact lenses 

I like them because it's not like the sunglasses make the world drab, just darker. I bought a pair, just because of the way you have to keep taking them on and off when you go outside and inside. When I put them on after a few minutes I was amazed at the way colours were still vivid. Quite different.

BTW don't ask me about lappy's. I bought a Lenovo, twice. So I'm not the best person to ask!

That’s great  thanks. I love these kind of tips and I am about ready for a new pair of sunglasses. 

feel free to post more tips.

Ok, sunglasses wise, I buy Serengeti. They aren't the cheapest. I know a site that does the pair I like for £80, but, and this is a big but, they have lenses that are photochromatic. They adjust to light, so if you do go into a darker room, or the sun goes in the lens goes clearer, and they don't drown colour out. You can see colours more or less properly, unlike normal sunglasses, they have lots of shades too, so if you need colour tints they have lots of colours.

https://www.discountedsunglasses.co.uk/serengeti-sunglasses/?SearchSortBy=MAN

Look for the photochromatic ones. Great.

agree abour sennheisers but they're feircely expensive.

The noise cancelling ones are. The cans are the best value for the price.

but if you just want to kill noise then industrial ear defenders are cheap and effective

Have a look at that link I put up for BlueRay. They are ear defenders with an inverse wave that can deal with over 80db for cancelling.

p.s. please anybody, feel free to post more tips. And if you’ve got any expertise on laptops, do you have any recommendations for laptops? 

Thanks extra, I’m not even thinking about them any more, at the minute. But they’re useful tips, thank you. I’ve a few things to do before I get headphones, and at my current snails pace, it could take a while  but when I’m ready, I’ll come back to this post, and I’ll either ask for more advice, or if I figure out what I want, from all this great into and I’ll make my choice, and let you know what I got  thanx

I'm a big fan of noise cancellation - agree abour sennheisers but they're feircely expensive. I listen to music so the active cancelling is crucial - but if you just want to kill noise then industrial ear defenders are cheap and effective.

This is a good time of year, the crowds will be crazy by easter - I love the museum too!

I think that hitting the lows we have, and getting over them does give us an even more positive outlook after diagnosis. I look at some of the places that people I was associated with are now, and I'm grateful that for some reason, I've been given a new life basically.

I didn't do too bad career wise myself. I wasn't happy though. I was constantly chasing salary, and not considering what it was doing to me. I also had a few illegal irons in the fire at times. I was a great functioning addict, Clonazepam was my drug of choice. Alcohol too. I did everything else too, but those were my fuel. I could have kept pushing through, but there was always going to be a "day of reckoning". It came at the right time.

I thought I hated my past, but I'd say that I learned a lot from it all. Even bad experiences are still experiences. You learn from it all. I'm savvy to a lot of things I wouldn't have been otherwise.

It's all been great in a lot of ways these last few years, very, very hard at the start, but acceptance of my situation has allowed me to appreciate how life has really been better to me than I'd thought.

Relationships have improved, bad relationships have faded away, and the real ones have endured.

I like your outlook. We all have bad days, I know I do, but all this has given me the outlook to develop tools, and a lifestyle to cope.

Up and down is expected. It's nice to be alive to try and balance it all out now!

I could have written all that myself. We’re in the exact same place. In fact, I’m about to post what I’ve just written, and it mirrors a lot of what you’ve just said. 

I was in prison at 17, I’ve been a drug addict including heroin, homeless and on the streets twice, and so much more. Got myself out of all that, still unaware of autism, to make an excellent social worker and mental health practitioner, yet still to be filled with this confusion. 

My diagnosis came just in time to save my life and I thought I hated my past, but I realised that there’s a lot I can bring into my new life, and I can leave the rest. I’ve mourned it and learned what I needed to from it, and now it’s time to really live. 

And like you, even though I’m spending more time by myself, and enjoying it more, I’ve also realised how many good friends and family I have got, and if we take it in small doses, the relationships are much stronger. At least they feel real now, which is a huge improvement on total disconnection. 

It’s been a humbling and fascinating experience but it’s brought me down to earth. Getting my diagnosis gave me a place on this earth and I decided to live it according to me, despite what the rest of the world were doing. And so far, it’s been up and down, but it’s working out ok . 

No problem BlueRay, glad I could explain about the NCT headphones. Besides I couldn't live with myself letting you pay £300 for them!

I’m coming out of this burn out, and with more self awareness, I’m finding different ways of doing things etc and actually, I have more to consider now with headphones, beyond just trying to shut out the noise. 

I can wholeheartedly say that getting diagnosed was the best thing that's happened in years, if not my adult life. I went on for years, trying, and trying to make things work, with no avail. I'd get the bus home, and cry somedays. Too much input. I had all the overload, and tension, but no explaination for the way I felt. Pretty scary. When you feel like that, and have no explaination, the conclusions you can come to are pretty daunting.

I’ve realised that the ‘noise’ I hear, that can stay with me for hours later, is more of an atmospheric noise, from just being around other people. The more sensitive I am, due to burn out for example, the less actual noise I can tolerate, but in reality, it’s just the general noise of the world outside my world that wears me out.  If that makes sense. 

Noise in quotation marks is exactly what it is. I have the synaesthesia too, and everything becomes one big, loud, smelly, shiny, tactile ball of weirdness. There's even a "vibe" that I can get that isn't good. It's all input. Information, sensory experience, and even emotion can begin to fill me to bursting point. Before I had an explaination, it drove me to some dark places. I've been a mental health inpatient, nearly been killed a few times, gone deep into drugs and drink, and ultimately attempted suicide. I woke up after nearly two bottles of Vodka, and a *** load of Clonazepam, miraculously alive, on my kitchen floor. Oddly, I was happier that day than I'd been in years. I decided to be more honest with myself, and get help. It led me here. I'm glad to be alive.

I’m so glad that I got so low that I absolutely had to learn to trust somebody else, because it’s made me so much more open to asking and accepting help from other people in all sorts of ways. I never knew life could be like this. I was always this Lone Ranger. Surrounded by people but always alone in my world. Life is so much more beautiful this way. 

That's exactly my experience. I wouldn't admit to myself that I needed to be more honest, and open, to finally get the help I so badly needed. I would always keep pushing on, after each problem, without addressing why it kept happening. I was always a crazy ***, stubborn to boot, and when I got the excuse to let fly, a bit of a nasty fucker when things were at rock bottom. That's not me, I got used to thinking I was that person, but I'm not.

That first few months were a struggle, knowing that it's lifelong. Then the penny dropped, now I have something definable that I can work with. Not just an unexplainable ball of chaos. I can work on strategies to help cope, and look for experiences that aren't just something I can cope with, they can be experiences that actually make my autism feel good. I used to get in a certain place before diagnosis, and the beauty of everything would all just fall into place. There are upsides to autism, lots. I'm in the same place as you, I'm looking to make life easy, and actually find ways to exploit my autistic traits. Life is full of beauty, you just have to prioritise things, and redefine certain things. I'm certainly realising a lot even now. It's given me a different outlook.

I'm pretty surprised how things have worked out with peopke I'm close to. They've been very supportive. I do spend a lot more time by myself, but the time I do spend with other people is much better. I'm not suffering anymore like I was, and it shows.

I don't like the thought of you feeling suicidal. You seem to be figuring things out, and that makes it a great time to be alive. I nearly achieived it, but *** me I'm glad to be alive. It gave me a second wind, and the diagnosis gave me the change in will that I needed. I'm strong willed, I think you are too. This all gave me the chance to use that will to face it all head on.

Anyway here's to new hats, headphones, and life!

I've just remembered the name of this character in night at the museum, its dum dum!

Thank you so much for all of this. I really appreciate it. I didn’t feel confident about the bose ones, because like I said, I wasn’t quite sure what they actually did and I haven’t found anybody, until now, who could help me. When I’ve mentioned it to people, they didn’t quite know what I was talking about. 

You’ve given me lots to think about. I’m now thinking about things I hadn’t previously considered and also, now that I’m changing, i.e.  I’m coming out of this burn out, and with more self awareness, I’m finding different ways of doing things etc and actually, I have more to consider now with headphones, beyond just trying to shut out the noise. 

I’ve realised that the ‘noise’ I hear, that can stay with me for hours later, is more of an atmospheric noise, from just being around other people. The more sensitive I am, due to burn out for example, the less actual noise I can tolerate, but in reality, it’s just the general noise of the world outside my world that wears me out.  If that makes sense. 

My ADHD side of me was just going to buy the Bose ones simply because I didn’t know what else to do. So I’m truly grateful for all this info and I’m really going to take my time to consider my choice now. 

And yeah, I’m definitely gonna get one of those hats. I love wearing the same things and I love a trusty hat. They’re actually the style I like to wear as well, which is great. I’m thinking of the ear muff things as well now. 

This has been great. Thank you  

I’m so glad that I got so low that I absolutely had to learn to trust somebody else, because it’s made me so much more open to asking and accepting help from other people in all sorts of ways. I never knew life could be like this. I was always this Lone Ranger. Surrounded by people but always alone in my world. Life is so much more beautiful this way. 

No problem at all BlueRay, glad I can try and help!

I already checked out the Tilley hats and have already chosen one I really like. 

A hat for life! It isn't a load of codswallop, with a caveat either. If it starts to wear out, or fall apart they will replace it. They aren't the cheapest, but the quality is high, and you just get a replacement when it gets worn out.

I used to try doing the @ thing, but it seems a bit finicky. Sometimes it does sonetimes it doesn't.

The main reason I was thinking of getting some headphones, was to cut out some of the outside noise, not necessarily to listen to music, but to blot out noise, a bit like the head phone things that builders etc wear. Is it possible to get a pair of headphones that do this? 

If you buy a pair of "can" style headphones there are lots that will do just that. They just need thick housing.

I’d rather go for quality over the latest ‘thing’ if you know what I mean, so your recommendation is highly appreciated. But I do want to know if they can blot out noise in general if I wear them without music. I was under the impression that the Bose ones could do this?!?!?!?

Cans will dampen down a lot of background noise. Some are made for studio use so they need a pretty high level of noise isolation for musicians to work. DJ's and rock musicians use them in a practical setting. Some Sennheisers are basically Air Traffic Control headphones with the microphone taken off. 

Noise Cancellation is something, personally I don't think is effective enough to justify the price tag, or the compromise to sound quality that they have to drop to be effective. They work using an inverse wave to "cancel" noise. The wave is sent through the same driver as the music, or sound you are listening to. If the inverse wave "clashes" with the noises you are listenng to it can actually create more noise through a kind of feedback. They also are only good at cutting out low range to low/medium sounds that are running consistently. Things like engines, fans, and anything that runs at a constant rate. Higher sounds, and sounds that come out of the blue (because the microphone that controls the inverse wave can only "settle in" to a frequency, and needs time to do so) like shouting, loud voices, kids screaming, and car horns, are hard for the headphones to handle. They are getting better, but there will always be the problem of what it can process, and the effect on sound quality. Good cans have a stable sound quality, you can get them with a thick enough housing to block sound effectively, and are waaaay cheaper.

tl;dr The noise cancelling ones aren't worth it, and aren't that good, yet. Plus they spoil you listening experience. For the same price you can buy a professional quality set of cans that have top level sound quality, a set of ear protectors, earplugs, probably feed yourself for a week, and have change in your pocket. Yes, the Bose ones can be used without music, but you can buy earplugs for pennies that do the same and are far less clunky.

A jar of 100 earplugs are £12. These one's are good imo.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pairs-Howard-Leight-Individually-Wrapped/dp/B00A25JLN0/ref=pd_vtph_tr_t_1/262-5310873-0652422?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00A25JLN0&pd_rd_r=ac2195af-2008-11e9-bedb-314aa3a9e6e6&pd_rd_w=bmMyR&pd_rd_wg=6V1Un&pf_rd_p=4c7bb8c9-529d-45ea-842d-4e34757ae738&pf_rd_r=RV5JDWNKT8CS2R4VC5YV&psc=1&refRID=RV5JDWNKT8CS2R4VC5YV

These are electronic "Noise Cancelling" ear defenders, but they have a far higher tolerance than any brand of the headphones. These are for shooting guns, so the are pretty good.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Electronic-Shooting-Reduction-Amplification-Protection/dp/B0797SW8VZ/ref=sr_1_4_sspa?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1548355858&sr=1-4-spons&keywords=ear+defenders&psc=1

Bit of a long post there BlueRay, but I don't like to think of anyone wasting money!

Hi @Cloudy Mountains ~ your name doesn’t come up when I put the ‘@‘ thing in?!?!?!? ‍

Anyways, what I wanted to talk to you about is the headphones thing.

The main reason I was thinking of getting some headphones, was to cut out some of the outside noise, not necessarily to listen to music, but to blot out noise, a bit like the head phone things that builders etc wear. Is it possible to get a pair of headphones that do this? 

However, I do also like to listen to audio books and sometimes music, so the headphones will be great for that, when I’m out and about and they’ll be especially good for listening to ASMR and I I’ll e the ones you pointed me to. I’d rather go for quality over the latest ‘thing’ if you know what I mean, so your recommendation is highly appreciated. But I do want to know if they can blot out noise in general if I wear them without music. I was under the impression that the Bose ones could do this?!?!?!?  

Thanks for you help

That's brilliant Cloudy Mountains, thank you. 

I already checked out the Tilley hats and have already chosen one I really like. 

I'll now check out the headphones. I haven't got much of a clue about them so your input is much appreciated, thank you  

Of course, and get out of the room quick, after they've been extinguished, to avoid smelling that after smell thing they do ;)