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Loud DC and unhappy neighbour. Would you move?

992 replies

YourMintReader · 15/05/2025 19:40

I moved in 6 weeks ago. Within a week, the neighbour had complained about noise levels from 4.30am in the morning. First with a note through the door, the second time I got a phone call from Housing Association. Quickly resolved when I explained why.

Understandable, but there’s nothing I can do. This is from loud shouting and vocal stims.

She has now complained to the Housing Association that I am letting my son play out for hours on end, screaming. And has added he screams foul language. Quickly proven otherwise by me by emailing over countless documents that mention he doesn’t speak a word.

He does scream, happy and sad screams and different times. But I am absolutely not allowing him out ‘all day’

He goes to school 8am to 4pm return.

His weekend schedule is 4/4.30am - Awake. Downstairs around 5.30am latest. We might leave the house for about 9am. Possibly 2 hours of respite carers out the house for a couple of hours with them.

He would spend about 2 or 3 hours max a day in the garden. Inside no later than 6pm.

My neighbour has also got 2 children, 12 and 15. I have never heard from them but they’re older.

It’s a really small new build development and I think I and one other house are the only housing association tenants.

Would you look to move? I would be against it but cannot see a solution if it doesn’t stop. I can’t feel so worried in my own home.

Bloody awkward as there just isn’t many houses so you can’t blend in at all

OP posts:
llizzie · 20/05/2025 00:14

YourMintReader · 16/05/2025 09:44

I created the issue, really? Besides that, all the properties that come up are new builds. All of them. Even when directly through the council. There aren’t any older properties coming up, if they are they’re as rare a hens teeth

My last house was a new build and didn’t have thin walls.

Don't let posters like this grind you down. I don't know why they have to be so nasty.

Kirbert2 · 20/05/2025 00:14

llizzie · 20/05/2025 00:10

Well at that I am not surprised. If she was able to keep coming back she would be able to cope. She cannot do both.

In any case, if she takes advice from an organisation she has to contact them and wait for them to respond. None of us has any right to expect her to reply to our posts.

I certainly do not expect her to waste her valuable time and energy responding to me. The poor mother has said so much already. I am happy to wait until she has some news for us, but that could take weeks.

I don't think she'll be back to update either. Of course, she doesn't have to anyway as you said.

llizzie · 20/05/2025 00:10

Kirbert2 · 19/05/2025 23:55

She hasn't come back in ages. As I said, I doubt she's reading anymore because I know I wouldn't be considering some comments.

Well at that I am not surprised. If she was able to keep coming back she would be able to cope. She cannot do both.

In any case, if she takes advice from an organisation she has to contact them and wait for them to respond. None of us has any right to expect her to reply to our posts.

I certainly do not expect her to waste her valuable time and energy responding to me. The poor mother has said so much already. I am happy to wait until she has some news for us, but that could take weeks.

llizzie · 20/05/2025 00:07

MyHeartyCoralSnail · 19/05/2025 19:20

Are you sympathetic to the NDN at all. Given posters experiences on here she is likely very vulnerable to, vulnerable to mental breakdown, possible suicide (as several poster now have said they’ve been left suicidal in such circumstances) the NDN is in her own with two children who are being sleep deprived, whose school work is probably suffering. She is probably unable to move because it costs thousands, prob over £10 k to move. Are you sympathetic to her vulnerability?

It is not my place to be sympathetic to the NDN. It is the OP who wants the help. She is vulnerable, a mother of a special needs child. The NDN is in a better position. I do not know the neighbour, so I cannot judge.

As a homeowner, she has the same rights as the tenant next door. She has the same channels of help as does the OP, yet she is making the OP's life a misery.

I feel sad that more people think she is unreasonable that not. I have been on the receiving end of NDN and I am not tied to my wheelchair, just use it when my legs don't work so well. If you knew what NDNs are capable of, you might just be more sympathetic to the OP.

I hope the situation can be resolved peacefully and legally. I pointed the OP in the direction where she may be able to get that resolution without having to uproot herself and DS, because it isn't as simple as moving house. The move might involve a new school, new social workers, new everything. That is hard, and it seems that complaining neighbours do not recognise the difficulties faced by mothers with children of special needs.

Kirbert2 · 19/05/2025 23:55

llizzie · 19/05/2025 23:51

She is asking for help with a NDN who is making her life a misery, not the meaning of stimming. For goodness sake, be helpful to her, not running me down.

I don't matter: she does.

She hasn't come back in ages. As I said, I doubt she's reading anymore because I know I wouldn't be considering some comments.

Kirbert2 · 19/05/2025 23:53

llizzie · 19/05/2025 23:33

Please don't tell me what I do and do not understand. You do not have the ability to get inside people's minds.

Stop commenting on responses because you are putting the wrong interpretations and emphases' on comments made by others who are trying to help the OP deal with a very serious problem.

In one of your previous comments, when encouraging OP to talk to the school, you said it was bad behaviour. Of course that isn't understanding autism. I don't need to get inside anyone's minds when it is right there in black and white.

I'll comment as I like, thanks.

llizzie · 19/05/2025 23:51

Kirbert2 · 19/05/2025 18:04

OP very clearly said that her child stims when he is happy. You used various different words (including 'behaving badly') to describe it but you were clearly meaning when he stims loudly because that is largely what this thread is about.

I'm not the one who has to think carefully before they post.

I think it's very unlikely OP is even reading now anyway.

She is asking for help with a NDN who is making her life a misery, not the meaning of stimming. For goodness sake, be helpful to her, not running me down.

I don't matter: she does.

llizzie · 19/05/2025 23:48

From her post which began the thread, I thought the OP needed help in a very serious situation. I think she intended it to be that way.

To discover that the votes show that more voters think her to be unreasonable than do not, must be very depressing for her, although I suppose it is just as helpful to know what she is up against as it is to know that people are trying to help her, so I suppose in a way the vote is educational, if not reassuring.

llizzie · 19/05/2025 23:45

SleeplessInWherever · 19/05/2025 17:34

Ours goes to sleep with melatonin (usually) and wakes up anywhere between 1am and 3am.

When he first wakes up he greets us. Loudly. Shouts HELLOOOO through the wall. The minute or so it takes to get out of bed and into his room to start resettle him he does that louder, and starts to escalate. I can guarantee it would wake some of the people here up.

If he can’t resettle, he has meltdowns because he wants his grandparents or a playground or his dinner at 2am. Again, that can be managed, but it takes time to calm him.

If anyone here is about to tell me to already be in his bedroom so he doesn’t need to shout - no, because we don’t cosleep. Intentionally.

We’re also not taking him to grandparents at 2am.

We deal with it in the way we deal with it, we know him best, and if his 1am greeting wasn’t for you - he’s still not moving house.

Does your GP prescribe the Melatonin? Please do not think I am judging. I am just interested and you need not reply if you do not want to.

If helps older adults, but younger adults and children with long term sleep problems can take metatonin if a specialist prescribes it.

I say this in case posters think it is an over the counter medicine. In some places it is, but it still needs caution as there are side effects.

llizzie · 19/05/2025 23:37

I am really quite surprised, and not a little shocked at the voting. More people say the OP is being unreasonable than not?

Why?

By virtue of the fact that her DS is innocent of wrongdoing, so is the OP. There is something more sinister here though. Many posts in favour of the OP and attempting to help her are being scorned by those who side with the NDN. Perhaps the NDN has enlisted more help than the OP can?

It is not a case for argument so much as how to help. Once something degenerates into a base argument and helpful suggestions ridiculed, the thread is of no use to the OP.

llizzie · 19/05/2025 23:33

Kirbert2 · 19/05/2025 17:48

You very clearly didn't fully understand what stimming is from your previous comments. You seemed to think OP should talk to her son's school because you assumed that he didn't stim loudly there, you also seemed to assume that he was only stimming at home because something might be physically wrong with him and suggested to put a severely autistic child through a full MRI scan for no real reason other than he stims loudly.

She does need help. Help from those who actually understand her son's disability.

Please don't tell me what I do and do not understand. You do not have the ability to get inside people's minds.

Stop commenting on responses because you are putting the wrong interpretations and emphases' on comments made by others who are trying to help the OP deal with a very serious problem.

llizzie · 19/05/2025 23:30

MyHeartyCoralSnail · 19/05/2025 23:05

But what should the NDN do. It’s probably having severe impact on every aspect of hers and her kids lives.

Edited

It would. The NDN can do what I advised the OP to do, which is to consult the EASS. They can discuss the situation with the education authority, social services and see what the legal situation is. It cannot be resolved by either one, and there are organisations set up to help in the situation.

The OP is vulnerable, just as much as is her DS. I understand her plight. I know the lengths to which NDNs go to get rid of people they do not like.

I hope she follows my advice and contacts the EASS, the advisory service of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, because her son suffers from a recognised disability. Not everyone is helped by the EASS: only those who come under one of the headings for them to act. Other people without disability have to consult lawyers in the first place.

One of our legal Human Rights is the enjoyment of our property. I don't know if the Housing Association who placed the OP in the house are familiar with the Deeds of the house or not. Who does? They have access to them, and can see if the deeds contain covenants which apply to the owner of the other home as well. The house next door is in private ownership. That family may have difficulty selling the property if they own it, but they are in no worse position than the Housing Association.

In fact, they may have the ability to buy the property from that owner, which is why the situation is a lot more complicated than perhaps the OP and the NDN realise. They both have equal rights. For my own part, I do not think the OP should disrupt their lives any more, but that is something only the professionals can decide.

If the housing association were able to buy the house, then they could put another mother with a special needs child in that house.

IT IS A SUGGESTION ONLY: please, posters, no more ridiculing me more than you have already. (that is not directed at your post).

The EASS are really the only organisation who can do that dispassionately, because they know the law and are familiar with other similar cases throughout Britain and Europe. Local authorities can help to some extent, but very often they are limited by budget, and the queues for advice are longer.

llizzie · 19/05/2025 23:11

flapjackfairy · 17/05/2025 19:22

Well you said there was equipment at school and help to be had from school staff didn't you ? you said there was lots of equipment that could solve the issue which I didn't understand and implied you had experience in this area. Obviously you dont which is fine as most people don't but lots of people are throwing suggestions around with no real.understanding of reality.Schools are often v noisy and deal.with all the same issues. There is no magic wand to solve them, no formula to follow and all will be well.

And again suggesting residential care is naive. It is v hard to get funding for it to start with and places are incredibly hard to find and few and far between. And lots of parents don't want to send their children away even if it is an option. There have been some horrendous stories of abuse especially against non verbal children and adults who cannot speak up.for themselves

I posted a question to the OP. I asked her if the school had equipment there to help them care for her son that she did not have at home.

I asked her if she had regular discussions with the staff about managing her son, and if they could help her.

I don't make statements. I am disabled. If you knew the capabilities of some NDNs in their efforts to make you leave your home, you would not be so nasty to me, who only has the OPs interest at heart.

She does not have to put up with the situation. I do not see why she should feel she has to move IF she doesn't want to. In my post I told her why the NDN might be showing such animosity and said they both have the human right to the enjoyment of their property. In her case, she has a DS who is severely disabled and she should not have to fight in court for him. The EASS will advise her. I told her this. I do not expect her to tell me if she has or not. She is far to busy and worried. For her to see you pulling apart a positive post must be heartbreaking, and you have no right to do that. She has a RIGHT to the proper advise and service. Do not put her off. It doesn't help.

I have been helped several times by the EASS, which link I included in my post. My disability is a recognised one, and although not the same, the OP's DS has a recognised disability. The Equality and Human Rights Commission do not help everyone. You have to have one of the recognised disabilities in order for them to step in and advise you. It is what they are there fore. Those who do not fall into that category usually have to take legal advice from a lawyer in the first instance, and the EASS with advise on that.

It is for the OP to decide whether to answer questions from posters and to take advice. It is not for you to question another poster and to disagree on such a serious matter.

Id you are on the side of the NDN you should be honest and say so.

MyHeartyCoralSnail · 19/05/2025 23:05

Thepossibility · 19/05/2025 21:05

I work with kids with ASD and I'm really not sure what you expect her to do? Gag him?! It's a massive spectrum. You have the ability to write comments on Mumsnet, you and he are not the same. He will be inside making his noises, or outside in unsocial hours, making his noises. You talk to communicate, he cannot.

But what should the NDN do. It’s probably having severe impact on every aspect of hers and her kids lives.

MyHeartyCoralSnail · 19/05/2025 23:02

Kirbert2 · 19/05/2025 19:32

I'm not. I would be if she had handled it differently such as attempting to communicate with OP at all. Not even apologising when she was told that actually, the child next door can't talk if it was indeed just misheard as you insist but nothing except for running to the HA. She doesn't even collect her own packages when OP takes them in for her.

All of this makes me think the NDN is really really struggling mentally with this. I do wonder if this isn’t the first time the NDN has been in this position - I wonder we Jo was in that house before the OP

Kirbert2 · 19/05/2025 21:36

TheHerboriste · 19/05/2025 21:27

They know talking to the parents about it will be futile.

Look at all the “tough shit, I’m miserable so you can be, too” attitudes in this thread alone.

Or they sleep through it
Or they are simply understanding
Or they have made some adjustments and it works

Plenty of other reasons too.

TheHerboriste · 19/05/2025 21:27

Kirbert2 · 19/05/2025 20:34

They say hi to me whenever they see me, we walk to school together on school runs if we bump in to each other on the way, we bring in each others bins....

They are friendly and know my son is disabled but they don't know the ins and outs and have never brought it up, including any noise they might hear at night.

I mean, maybe it does bother them but they've never shown it like I suspect they would. Or you know, talked to me about it which is the obvious solution if something is bothering them.

They know talking to the parents about it will be futile.

Look at all the “tough shit, I’m miserable so you can be, too” attitudes in this thread alone.

Thepossibility · 19/05/2025 21:05

Growsomeballswoman · 15/05/2025 20:12

I understand that, but kindly that isn’t your neighbours problem. She has every right to not be woken at 4.30 am every morning.

I work with kids with ASD and I'm really not sure what you expect her to do? Gag him?! It's a massive spectrum. You have the ability to write comments on Mumsnet, you and he are not the same. He will be inside making his noises, or outside in unsocial hours, making his noises. You talk to communicate, he cannot.

Kirbert2 · 19/05/2025 20:54

MyHeartyCoralSnail · 19/05/2025 20:47

The neighbour two doors up subscribes to “gentle parenting” cue load shouting and banging in the garden from end of school til 7pm. Neighbour in between has been moaning about them because she works from home and is attached to them
and in her words “ the gentle parenting continues inside too” and is very critical of her neighbours generally She often seen in the neighbours garden having a laugh and glass of wine. She doesn’t like confrontation- just her and her son so doesn’t want to say anything.

I'd like to think that most people know the difference between a disabled child who sometimes struggles in the night due to how shit his life can be at times and children who are simply noisy because their parents don't bother parenting him.

Maybe I shouldn't have that much faith in my neighbours.

Though I haven't had any official complaints either so I think I'm fine.

MyHeartyCoralSnail · 19/05/2025 20:47

Kirbert2 · 19/05/2025 20:34

They say hi to me whenever they see me, we walk to school together on school runs if we bump in to each other on the way, we bring in each others bins....

They are friendly and know my son is disabled but they don't know the ins and outs and have never brought it up, including any noise they might hear at night.

I mean, maybe it does bother them but they've never shown it like I suspect they would. Or you know, talked to me about it which is the obvious solution if something is bothering them.

The neighbour two doors up subscribes to “gentle parenting” cue load shouting and banging in the garden from end of school til 7pm. Neighbour in between has been moaning about them because she works from home and is attached to them
and in her words “ the gentle parenting continues inside too” and is very critical of her neighbours generally She often seen in the neighbours garden having a laugh and glass of wine. She doesn’t like confrontation- just her and her son so doesn’t want to say anything.

Kirbert2 · 19/05/2025 20:34

MyHeartyCoralSnail · 19/05/2025 20:27

How do you know they weren’t bothered?

They say hi to me whenever they see me, we walk to school together on school runs if we bump in to each other on the way, we bring in each others bins....

They are friendly and know my son is disabled but they don't know the ins and outs and have never brought it up, including any noise they might hear at night.

I mean, maybe it does bother them but they've never shown it like I suspect they would. Or you know, talked to me about it which is the obvious solution if something is bothering them.

MyHeartyCoralSnail · 19/05/2025 20:33

jenrobin · 19/05/2025 20:26

I think this is certainly true; the human brain does search for patterns and make assumptions. However.. If I was going to make a complaint about a neighbour's disabled child along these lines, I'd want to be very, very certain before claiming something like that. Like, recording it and getting a second opinion level of certainty. There are also the other inconsistencies, like the neighbour getting the hours wrong that he's allowed in the garden by a country mile. If she's not lying, I'd at least be embarrassed by getting things so very badly wrong as this.

But this isn’t how a brain works. Many people don’t realise that a large proportion of the memories they carry round are false. People believe their memories, thru don’t understand the issues around gap filling. So to the neighbour there was no chance she was wrong.

Plus, from experience it is likely she is effectively suffering from trauma. This often shuts down the rational
part of the brain at times.

I think it’s all very well and good saying this is what should have happened, how they should have thought, but the brain simply doesn’t work that way.

MyHeartyCoralSnail · 19/05/2025 20:27

Kirbert2 · 19/05/2025 19:34

I haven't had any issues with my son and neighbours either.

Funnily enough, the only issue I ever had with a neighbour was before he became disabled.

How do you know they weren’t bothered?

jenrobin · 19/05/2025 20:26

MyHeartyCoralSnail · 19/05/2025 19:10

Well, as I’ve already explained in a situation where a person is perceiving aggression then yes, it is most likely a person will hear some of the sounds as abusive language eg swearing. There’s so many experiments out there showing how the human brain will try and recreate recognisable patterns (ie words) out of indistinguishable noises based on either suggestion or overall tone.

I think this is certainly true; the human brain does search for patterns and make assumptions. However.. If I was going to make a complaint about a neighbour's disabled child along these lines, I'd want to be very, very certain before claiming something like that. Like, recording it and getting a second opinion level of certainty. There are also the other inconsistencies, like the neighbour getting the hours wrong that he's allowed in the garden by a country mile. If she's not lying, I'd at least be embarrassed by getting things so very badly wrong as this.

Jimmyneutronsforehead · 19/05/2025 20:09

SleeplessInWherever · 19/05/2025 19:42

I think some would have us believe that people who aren’t mentioning it are just politely in their houses quivering and avoiding telling us to ostracise our kids.

I choose to believe they’re either genuinely not bothered, or empathetic enough to think “Christ, that sounds difficult,” and then leave it there.

Edited

Yep.

They're all for saying they all think like me and if they don't openly say they think like me they're lying to you.

Maybe that's true and they've just learnt that if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all, or maybe there are just people out there that have empathy and understanding.

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