Noise blocking

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Hello,
my AS partner is seriously annoyed by noise, whether it's traffic or outside music or a noisy appliance. For Christmas I would like to give her something to help with blocking this. She wears earplugs a lot, but she often has to fuss with them and they don't do a great job, especially if she's trying to sleep with them in. Not sure if a white noise machine would help, or be one more droning noise she can't stand. If anyone has suggestions to help with this sensitivity I would appreciate it!

Shut off the electricity? When ours goes out, a lot of my anxiety and restlessness just slides away.

That's how we lost a whole freezer full of goat meat and smoothie supplies a few months back What bothers her the most in our current place is commuting traffic and church bells outside, rather than internal noises.

Hi, In case she has not tried wax ear plugs, I highly recommend them. They are quite comfortable to use while sleeping, as you can mold them to the shape of the ear and they actually stay in place. I find them to be even more affective in blocking out noise, than noise canceling earphones. Best of luck finding the right solution! :-)

Have you tried taping thick plastic to the windows and also, weatherstripping them? Making them more airtight can help a lot with the noise. Also consider heavy curtains. If you own the home, you may consider having double paned windows installed but that would be expensive

How about using things like carpets, pillows, acoustic foam etc to to absorb sounds?
I find I can handle a gaggle of screaming kids much better in a suitably "padded" environment, or even outside in a field or something, than in our kitchen which is mostly bare walls and bare stone floor.

Thanks for the ideas! We don't own the place, and unfortunately furnishing it is going to be a rather slow job for financial reasons :/ . Maglevsky, do you mean just having those things in the room? Or using them in what way?

Ear defenders are great - I sometimes even wear them when I vacuum the house. Helps to keep my tinnitus at bay as well.

Hey Maecrab, sorry about not checking back here earlier, yes I meant having soft sound absorbing things in the room just doing their normal job, ie carpet on the floor, couch for sitting on etc. Of course if you have a spare carpet to hang on the wall, it might be even better.

I had this experience once when I went into a shop that sells poofs, pillows etc with my daughter who used to scream a lot when she was smaller, and noticed that the screaming really didn't bother me very much in there, whereas at home it would drive me up the wall. Since then I've become much more aware of how sound reverberates in rooms, and try to reduce it where I can. It also helps that we have an anechoic chamber at work, and the guy who built it likes explaining all about it. So I can think about how to adapt these techniques into a low-budget, home setting (though I mostly don't get around to it - too busy w/ other stuff). If you have time you could get really creative while spending minimal $$. Maybe also check out DIY how-tos for improving the acoustics in low-budget band rehearsal rooms etc.?

tl;dr: Sounds reflecting off the walls again and again may be an equal or even bigger problem than sounds getting in in the first place; acoustics may be useful to understand (also interesting if you're a geeky type)