what would be your ideal respite situation?

Post Reply New Topic

The tank might be a good recovery spot for me, but I'd want to know how much time I had before someone raised the lid. Overall, I'd rather be with someone who would rub my back and/or just hug sometimes. They should feel very capable of fending off other interruptions, but not be trying to mold me or meet a deadline. A good listener is preferred, but the best would be one with useful replies.

When I was going crazy from construction noise, I went to a friend's place in the country to get some sleep. I heard him start chopping wood, and that sound was perfect. I fell asleep before the second round.

One of the best things I did, skibum, was move into a very rural area. I live in the woods and swamps. I almost never hear another person. Barring occasional intrusions, only the sounds of the dogs, kitties, armadillos, frogs, birds, wind and rain.

Sounds heavenly. I wish I had the resources to do that.

Nothing quite like a good strong thousand to two thousand meters in a pool!

That would work great for me too except that I would need different music. The music that I love and find very therapeutic is like Native American wood flute, I LOVE Werner John, or soft classical type music or instrumental music like Yiruma or Jim Brickman or some of the string quartets or classical guitar and vocalists like Il Divo or Enya and very calm music like that.

For years, I have been angling for a place in the country near my friend, but I'm not at all sure I'd want to be there alone. He sees few people, but the neighbours that do visit don't like our politics. He is tolerated for being born here, while I'd have to deal with AS as well. I'd sleep better with a dog on watch, but then the small wildlife all stays away, and my ecological footprint would shoot 'way up.

We should be thinking about respite from natural disasters, since NTs seem incapable of not wrecking the climate.

All that sounds amazing to me too. I love affection as you would give to a young child. I find it extremely therapeutic. But it has to be from someone that I trust completely like a young child and my brother is the only one that I have that with. Unfortunately he lives very far away. But he tries to give me that kind of feeling when we talk on the phone. And I love organic sounds as well. Like pounding bass on a stereo makes me have massive meltdowns and can literally cause me to go into a very dangerous overload shock even if it is not loud. But wood chopping is actually a nice sound and I like it. I am very frequency sensitive so that is why some sounds are very soothing to me while others can literally kill me even if they have similar properties. That is a very difficult concept for nts to understand and that is why I get bullied a lot and no one takes me seriously and some of my neighbors will bully me by purposefully parking their cars in front of my house to blast their stereos. I have to leave my house or I will go into massive meltdowns and shock. I just had three big screaming meltdowns while I was trying to hang up my laundry because someone was parked outside blasting a stereo. Fortunately he left. But now I am so exhausted from the meltdowns and my head hurts but I can't rest because I have meetings today and I have responsibilities that I have to take care of. And I never know when someone will park or drive by blasting a stereo. There are times when I might have ten to thirty meltdowns in a weekend if there are a lot of people driving by or parking and blasting their stereos. I also have a lot of meltdowns while driving because I have to drive into the city a lot. But even if I am out in the country or at a park, I can have meltdowns because people come with their stereos or I can sometimes hear them from a couple miles away.

Autistic specific respite from natural disasters is a really good idea.

Your situation sounds like my ideal situation

Although I would be paranoid of 5150

My tolerance for noise is vastly better when I'm well rested. The trick is to get the sleep before the next noise.

I wish mine were better with rest. It is in the sense that it can make the difference between whether I have enough time to escape or not. I found that with me, if I have really good energy levels and if I am well rested and well fed, I can tolerate the sounds for about up to maybe one to two minutes or so longer than if I am not in tip top form. If I am neurologically battered, I have no tolerance at all, not even a couple of seconds. But that extra couple of minutes could give me enough time to hold off a meltdown until I can find a discreet place to have it. Or if I am really really lucky, I might be able to escape and not have a meltdown. But that is very rare.

A dark room would make me panic. I would want to be outdoors. I must get outside into the countryside, preferably in a place I can sit and see coastal views below me. Somewhere that is shady if it is a right sunny day, but at the same time... somewhere peaceful and quiet.
I don't like enclosed spaces so it would make me worse, unless the room was very large. It would have to have windows so I could see a means of escape.
Sorry. I am a bit panicky thinking what you lot may feel about me saying this, as on the one hand a dark room would stop the sensory issues, but for me it would heap stress on me... My own bedroom or this bathroom I am in now are fine. Yes, I don't want right lights... But at the same time, I don't want pitch blackness.
Why are my panicking? It is because if I was taken to hospital and they assumed I would do well in a dark room I would feel so panicky...
If I could lie down outside the hospital on a park bench in any weather. Just cover me with a waterproof sheet! I would be soo much happier. I would recover then. It would be bliss. Sorry. I am almost tearful, because I realize hospital staff would not be allowed to do this. Ummm... You know, I often asked my Mum when I needed to go to the dentist, that if the dentist could examine me in the middle of a field, and even work on my teeth there, I would not be i half as much panic... My dentist building has small rooms with no windows. Then comes the bright light of the thing they need to see me. They try to tip me back which makes me have swollowing issues with my throat where I need to sit upright... Ummm. Maybe I could sit in a field and be visited by a vet instead?

A bed in a field with waterprood but warm blankets... Or some sort of suspended tarp. above the bed to stop me getting wet...

We need to get the equine dentist for you!

I love that you say that a dark room would not work for you. And I equally love what does work for you because being in nature does wonders for me as well so I can completely relate. I was envisioning the coastal views you mentioned and I would love to be there right now. I spend as much time as I can in nature parks especially ones with water like lakes and rivers. Unfortunately I do not live close to the sea. But I completely understand that a dark room would be difficult for you. What I like about it is the lack of sensory stimuli but the natural world like the beach or the forests of lakes or ski slopes, give me sensory stimuli that is soothing and therapeutic for me. I have actually taken naps standing with herds of horses in pastures tucked right in there between them. I LOVE the natural world. If I were not constantly being neurologically bombarded by NT society and their inorganic sounds, I would not need the crisis emergency respite shut up in a dark room, even though I do enjoy that. If I lived in a very natural and organic setting, I would be able to do wonderfully well.

This thread is very important because I want to let hospital staffs and legislators know how our needs can vary and be quite different from the needs of nts who are in crisis. It is important that they understand that they need to be much more creative in the crises departments so that they can provide ways to meet the needs of all of their patients in crisis, not just people who do well in a traditional psyche ward or a traditional respite facility. They need to build facilities and provide spaces that can meet the varying needs that we have. It would be so easy for a hospital to provide a dark sensory deprived room in one area and a beautiful garden with a pond or stream or an indoor plant filled atrium ward in another area. These are just two examples of how crisis intervention spaces can differ form the traditional psyche ward.

Time spent with my cats, even though I only have feral cats now. I like going outdoors to see them when it's time to feed them.

Sweating out my tension on the tennis court

Watching my favorite tennis players

Is the "Closed in without an easy exit" feeling that panics me. An indoor plant ward would be great, but if it could have a door to the great outdoors I would be ok, as long as it is easy to open.
Just an outdoor shelter just for me would be ok. Oh... Strangely, you mention dark rooms. A thought came to my mind. An old brick built coalhouse that I can lie down in (I have to lie down) which is dry but nothing is painted etc... Old... Old wooden door that does not have a lock. One old window which has a curtain... That would be ok. It won't smell like hospital. It won't feel like hospital. The dirty coal atmosphere will make me feel like it is a nice place to hide away. Prehaps with a nice large dog to be company like a labrador...
It is modern square room with no windows and a thick heavy door which would make me panic. The old single plank width wooden shed doors I would be fine with.
Sorry. I know I am being a bit silly or strange, and I realize others would squirm if they had to be in the same calm enviroment...