AIBU to ask that hand driers are banned.

[BathshebaKnickerStickers]

I work as a TA with children who have ASC.

Every child with ASC In our school HATES/is scared of/is anxious about hand driers.

We have various toilets in the school where they are switched off permanently.

Thinking about it, surely one of the most obvious and simple thing that any organisation/business can do is to remove hand driers.

Surely using recycled paper towels, with enough bins, and onward recycling is better for the environment too.

Companies like Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s who do “low impact hours” once or twice a week could very quickly become more “low impact” 24 hours a day simply by removing all the hand driers.

Both my children were frightened of them at one point or another (younger one still is). But they’re better than paper towels in so many ways (not least of all because paper towel dispensers frequently go empty and you end up with dripping hands and no way of drying them).

My childhusband en were also scared of flushing toilets as well

*children husband not scared

The world is a noisy place, it's not going to change just because you want it to

Erm, this is ridiculous sorry. Take your own hand towels if you must.

Both my children were terrified of them, my 7 year old has really sensitive hearing and is still terrified of them. Whilst she was in nursery they refused to let her have snack as she wouldn't wash her hands, i had to go to the headteacher to get her to allow dd to use paper towels which i paid for, so she could get something to eat.
I'd ban them or at least provide an alternative.

Paper towels are much more hygienic than driers which is one big reason they’re used in hospitals. The paper even wipes off some of the germs that the soap misses!
From that point of view I absolutely agree! The worst driers are the ones they have where you put your hands between the two sides of the dryer...they’ve done many studies to show how dirty they make your hands

yanbu
but not because of noise but because I hate that they never get my hands properly dry. I much prefer paper towels.

The ones at my work have signs on them warning that they are loud. There’s no other way of drying your hands provided though.

I think “ridiculous” is a bit much.

The idea was it’s a simple change with very little “problem” caused for the vast majority, that would help a number of people.

We continually hear that the world is set up against people who are not neurotypical. Organisations set up a couple of hours a week...

Simple change that would help people struggling.

I didn’t think that was “ridiculous”

@BlackCatSleeping
Is that a Tenugui? My DH brought me one from a trip to Tokyo

It would cause environmental issues though. The modern ones are considerably more environmentally friendly. The hygiene issue is debatable, I've seen arguments either way, but I think that the environment should take precedence and again we can't ban everything that we autistics fear. I hope that they can work on ways to make them quieter though, if that's possible.

I'm not a great fan of hand dryer noise but I really can't stand the waste of paper towels so I'm afraid I just dry my hands on my trousers or cardi, carrying a flannel sounds like a good idea but would probably be too much faff for me, I shall stick to trousers.

They are a quick and energy efficient way of drying hands and the vast majority of the population are fine with them. You can't ban stuff just because some people have problems with it. You'd have to ban florescent lighting, buttons, heights, the number 13, the dark, loud noises, flashing lights, lifts, stairs...

If someone is triggered by dryers I'm sure it's fine to use a disabled loo and not use the dryer there.

I used to look after a little,girl who was scared of everything. Hoovers, Washing machines, hand dryers, toilets.... you name it and she was scared of it love her.

Small steps, patience, a bit of firmness (because actually you can't not use the toilet) over a few years and she became able to cope although she will never like them.

You cannot blanket ban these things. If the town she lived in banned them would she her be able to go to the next town? If the whole of the Uk banned them, would she never be able to take a holiday? You have to teach that these things are not going to hurt you, or swallow you up. Headphones for things that cannot be avoided. The world we live in is noisy and it's far better to either learn how to live with it or find coping mechanisms so that you can, than to ban everything for everybody.

I'm scared of dogs but no-one would dream of removing them, in my ideal world there would be no pets, but if I voice that I'm told to get help or learn how to cope because "people cannot live without them". I got told (on here) that I was being disablist because if someone came to work in the same place as me with a guide dog I would resign. Even though I would be removing myself from the situation not asking for them to be removed.

All we can do is be compassionate, helpful to, and tolerant of, other people. Skills that seem to be being set aside more and more.

I love a Dyson airblade. My DH wants them in the loos at home!

Not to mention the mess. I much prefer paper towels because as mentioned I hate hand dryers though it's the fear of the heat as well as the noise, but the mess that some people make with them is ridiculous.

Thank you to the poster who suggested taking a flannel to dry one's hands. I'm going to do exactly that next time I'm out.

I have a lot of sympathy but the world is a noisy place, can’t banish every loud thing that could affect someone. It wasn’t long ago on the news about stopping hand clapping.

Agreed! My toddler is terrified of them and I've yet to find one myself that doesn't just waft an ineffectual breeze near my fingers. Much prefer hand towels for both of us!

School + Paper Towels = blocked toilet + Messy floors.

They're dirty anyway.
I get so angry when I see someone start using one, look at my child who immediately covers their ears and starts crying, and then look at me blankly and carry on. Dicks.