Help - we all have different sensory 'needs' and I'm struggling to cope!

[SpinningTops]

Another weekend morning and I'm already feeling overwhelmed.

I have 2 kids who may be neurodiverse (both awaiting assessments). One makes noise fairly constant, this could be narrating his life / saying random things. The other maybe sings a tune on repeat. Everyone talks over everyone else.

DH doesn't like this much but deals with it by putting on the radio (Radio 4 so more talking). You can't hear the words so it's just more hum of noise. This helps him.

All of this is whilst I want to live in a world of quietness.

I've tried loop earplugs which work to a certain extent but I still feel I'm in a heightened state of fight or flight.

Any tips on what might help so I don't just have to leave the room?

This is one of the most helpful things I've ever seen with some real practical suggestions:

And this one by the same person is also great.

JFC @GazeboLantern I’ve just had a revelation from that. Thank you!

😀 glad if I can help.

Another idea is that the person who needs to listen to music uses bonephones. That way the sound can be loud for them without disturbing others, and they can still hear what's going on in their environment.

Bone conducting headphones are brilliant, you can still hear what’s happening around you but can have whatever acts as white noise in the background. Other types of sensory input also helps both for your kids and for you because it provides sensory feedback in a more controlled way and reduces the need to stim so much.

I have two kids with completely different sensory needs and tolerance levels, it’s been a job to find what works to balance everyone’s needs but finding other sensory input has reduced noise levels significantly.

Watching for interest.
Child who narrates constantly, DH who is loud and loves noise.
AuDHD mum who loves quiet

Thanks for this. I'm going to try and find an hour today to watch this. I've looked at the first 10mjns and it looks useful.

We do have various sensory outputs. We have chewies, weighted blankets, a spinning chair etc.

They will use them at various points but not often during general home time activities.

I will dig out a chewy today to see whether that helps.

To the person asking whether DH and I are autistic.

No, we wouldn't meet the threshold but there are some areas where I'm sure we would score highly.

Can you recommend a specific one please possumtea as I have struggled to find good ones for noisy traffic

You can get earplugs that reduce the volume of noise but you can still hear, might be worth a try.