sensory overload on a stick (eating out)

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When I was young, we had a Chinese restaurant that had booths like that. Not sound proof but you'd be amazed at how effective saloon doors and high partitions between booths work. They were black too so you didn't have a bright, busy affect.

we tried the earplugs with our daughter...she enjoys having less sensory input, but ends up talking so LOUD that it sounds like she's trying to talk over the noise of an airplane !

better today, thanks

I bought the cards from the Autismlink website store, they were really cheap.

we tried the earplugs with our daughter...she enjoys having less sensory input, but ends up talking so LOUD that it sounds like she's trying to talk over the noise of an airplane !

Earplugs really work!

I learned this trick in University. Originally I started to put earphones on because my roommate and I listened to very different types of music. Soon I started noticing that I was calmer when all the outside distractions could be muffled on and off by choice.

Noise-canceling earphones work well because you don't have to wear earplugs in public (which can look strange) it just looks like you are listening to music. (although they are a bit large, lol)

Over the years we've found that we can only go to restaurants where the boys can run around eg outdoor cafes. Lucky we have the nice weather in Australia!

My kids cannot sit - they have to run around. If they are forced to sit they fiddle with everything or become extremely loud.

Actually, we found 1 restaurant last week that is indoors where we had a good time.

It was in a renovated church with extremely high ceilings - therefore noise didn't travel. Our kids could talk loudly we didn't have to worry about disturbing others.

Helen

When it's really noisy in restaurants, I hate it a lot. It makes me feel agitated and frightened. If it's just clinking cutlery and dishes, I can live with it but not when it's people being really loud. I think the Girl7000 has a good idea but fear if I said anything about people being really noisy, I'd be seen as the one with the problem and they'd just say if you don't like it you can leave.

You know, it's perhaps sad to say it, but if you can find more expensive restaurants, they usually have more space and are quieter. I can't remember the last time I ate in a Pizza place, but there are some really great seafood and asian restaurants that are quiet if you look for them. Sushi can be particularly good, if you stay clear of the places that also have Hibachi Grills, and they usually have a few alternatives for those who're squeamish about raw fish. I don't really have that many sensory issues. It takes very specific things to set me off, but I can still appreciate it's a lot more pleasant to sit in a more private, quiet area.

Ironically, it's often the "family restaurants" that are the worst because there is so much noise and fast turn-over of customers and these are all things that are sure to provoke meltdowns. Mum (who I think has a few aspie traits) simply stopped taking us out once she had three of us, and I was the only one who was Aspie (but decades before a diagnosis). She said it was just too embarrassing and stressful and as for dad, he was always working and would have coped even less than her.

Family togetherness is okay but not when everybody ends up stressed and unhappy after an outing that was supposed to be fun.