I’m starting to think I may have some sort of autistic spectrum disorder

Tweet

I can’t stand annoying noises. Things like car alarms, noisy machinery (especially if it makes intermittent noise), burglar alarms, cat deterrents and those high-pitched sounds that are supposed to drive away loitering teenagers. I thought this was normal (that’s what makes them annoying) but it seems that some people just aren’t bothered. I always put this down to them not having very good hearing – I used to have perfect hearing until a loud concert in my mid-thirties when I suddenly found I could no longer hear the bats I used to hear regularly. But now I think maybe it’s more than that. And I have learned that some people with autism are affected by noise – a couple of the children at Little One’s school regularly wear ear defenders. We have a Vax vacuum cleaner. I find it very noisy and the girls also hate it. We all wear ear defenders when we use it. I also hate vacuuming so my partner said years ago that he would do it – I was so pleased that I neglected to ask for the details of how often he would do it! This means it hardly ever happens. Luckily we have tiled floor in the kitchen, hall and bathroom which I can wipe or mop, and I have a manual carpet sweeper to pick up crumbs and fluff from the carpets, but the corners do tend to get cobwebby. At the weekend we were expecting visitors so my partner got out the vacuum cleaner to do all the downstairs rooms. Normally as soon as he gets it out I have to go outside (or else he does it when I’m out) and the girls shut themselves in their rooms. But I needed to stay in the kitchen and prepare food. It would be tolerable if it was just for a few minutes but it went on and on and on. I went outside for a while, but I really needed to come in and get on with things. But I simply cannot stand the noise, I find it literally unbearable. In the end I got a second pair of ear defenders from the shed, which cut down the noise level somewhat so I could actually try to work in the kitchen, but it was still maddening. Thankfully he stopped soon after that. Of course that means that upstairs hasn’t been vacuumed in months and probably won’t be either until the next time I go away! Does anyone else have this problem? Does anyone know of a reliable and efficient but also quieter vacuum cleaner? The photo shows Pup (when we had him) attacking the vacuum cleaner. He had my sympathy. All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2023.