What things in the house caused you problems as a child?

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I'm working on a project to increase awareness about the difficulties faced and i'm starting with the home.

What things did you find most difficult as a child? And what things specifically in your home? For example smells, sounds, certain clothes labels, outside noises?

Is there anything within a home environment for you that has caused a sensory overload or meltdown?

Glad to be able to help with your question:

all labels on clothes
detergents/cleaning products - I'd react
unable to eat same things as others in family (orange squash, milk mainly as older kid, most foods as very young child)
couldn't be around animals even though I loved them ( allergic reactions )
dustmites

fluorescent lights or any bright lights would cause me to shut down/feel ill/unable to concentrate
too much noise - more than one person talking
strangers in house - caused me to feel upset - would withdraw if I could
having to socialise when I didn't want to
spent a lot of time outside

not a lot has changed looking at this list !

My son was bothered by the vacuum and the sound of the toilet flushing. He is not into rock or pop music he prefers symphonic. He mostly has issues with loud noises

my daughter has more sensory issues than my son but more taste/texture and touch so I'm not really sure as I did not become aware until she was a teenager. She has GERD eating dairy aggravates it. Had/has a fit any time I try to brush her hair. Does not like the feel of lace or man-made fabrics.

In childhood:

- the vacuum cleaner

At home, I covered my ears with my hands, started crying hysterically and froze/sank to the floor and froze. I didn't want to let that "thing" go where I couldn't see it.

At my grandmother's place I hid under the table, curled up and covered my ears with my hands as well. I didn't cry but my heart was racing while I observed the vacuum cleaner.

- drill machine, hammering, other loud banging noises, opening or folding clothes drying racks, the clatter of

I covered my ears and when the noise was ongoing, I cried, lay down on the ground or ran away.

- clothes that had to go over the head

I had/still have a big head, so regular collars of children's shirts and pullovers were often a little too tight when going over my head. I started crying and squirmed/fought back.

So, there were a lot more but I don't feel like thinking back to more awful sensations than those above right now.

I don't like plumbing. I suspect it is the randomness of the sounds, as well as not even being sure if it is sound at all.
This is minor and did not make me go fetal or anything.

I am 60 and built a little house 30 years ago. It does not have plumbing.
I have had to make up all sorts of silly excuses over the years as it is considered unacceptable.

The homeowners association where I live added a no outhouse clause to the covenents for new buyers. Too late to stop mine, but they assumed it was temporary at the time.

I am certainly less stressed for the last 30 years, why must they make it so hard?
Not a real question, I understand sanitation problems.

My family. lol. They would play loud music, or play the piccolo late at night while I was trying to sleep. They talk loudly too.

Tags on clothing, seam lines on socks, certain types of fabrics, turtle necks or things touching my neck, loose clothing, tight clothing, I went through phases

My brother stunk because he never bathed

When we got our first dog, it took me two weeks to get used to the smell and not vomit over it. I'm still super sensitive to the smell after 13? years.

I couldn't get a private space that was mine to relax in.

Some of the chores I was made to do had such strongly negative sensory effects on me that I would go into meltdown trying to do them. Like if I had to put my hands in soapy water with bits of food floating in it, I'd go into overload.

Smells, sounds. I lived in the basement and if someone stomped around upstairs I couldn't sleep.

Some of my executive functioning problems meant that I had a hard time doing complex tasks like cleaning a room or even getting ready for school. Well into my teen years I could only do those things with a parent standing there and demanding each step. The trouble was that this was assumed to be rebellion on my part since my parents were in denial about my autism, so doing any complex task was usually only done in a very demanding, hostile environment. So having my autistic traits mistaken for rebellion or bad character was really a negative experience for me.

I had trouble with many foods. Sometimes it's the taste, sometimes the appearance, and sometimes the consistency. My mother was fond of cooking veggies into a state of disgusting, inedible, mush. Meats she would often cook until they were dessicated. I love chicken--except when she cooked it. It was too dry, and I would always have to add water to any leftovers that I reheated, and other meats were also dry and tough. My mother was also fond of cooking with grease. It wasn't until I was in my 30s, and trying to eat a little healthier that I found out that my mother's greasy cooking was part of the cause of my acid stomach. I now rarely eat greasy foods, so my stomach calmed down some. Once I finally managed to live alone, which reduced a lot of my stress, my stomach calmed down even more. So reduce greasy foods, and stress in your life to reduce stomach acid.

Another problem I have is clothing. Labels are a problem--mostly neck labels, and I try to carefully remove them. I also have to be very careful in picking out foot gear. I have to make sure that there is no rough seam on the inside of the back of the foot wear. Other wise, it will chafe the back of my heels and make it bleed. I also avoid tops that are too tight in the neck, as I can't stand them.

Playing games with others was usually a problem for me. Because of my Asperger's, it takes me longer to process input and then create output, so it always took me longer to make moves in games. The other kids would often get impatient, and start playing past me, which looked like cheating to me. This would cause me to have melt downs. (My Asperger's wasn't known about when I was a kid. I am in my mid 50s. Back when I was growing up Autism spectrum disorders weren't recognized as such. We were usually diagnosed with emotional or behavior problems, and/or discipline problems.)

Unequal treatment from other family members was a problem. My 3 siblings were treated better than I was. Sometimes my father would take my younger brother on outings--just the two of them. However, every single time he would take me on outings, he insisted on taking my younger brother along, too. Besides this depriving me of some private time with my father, my younger brother was also a pest, and would cause me to have meltdowns. Naturally, I didn't ever want him to come along unless it was a trip involving the whole family. If I was sick as a dog I was forced to go to school anyway. If my younger brother faked being sick, and did a poor job of it, he got to stay home anyway. The only good thing is that my younger brother did eventually outgrow being a jerk, but it took a long time.

I also had problems dealing with other people, when growing up. Now I live alone, so I don't have to deal with other people as much any more. It is much less stressful this way.

The Stepfather.

Everything else then pales in comparison.

Things like food for instance, most of the food they gave me made me retch, especially things like hearts with great tubes sticking out of it, but there was no getting out of it, I would be made to sit in that cold kitchen with the now cold disgusting vomit food for anything up to six hours, thank God when we got a dog.

Now they wonder why I will never ever go around their house for dinner.

On a more personal level, my brain would sort of go wild inside when it couldnt compute something, I remember once feeling my head was about to explode as I couldnt get my head around the way seabirds were all called Seagulls when in fact there was a variety of differant species but people called them all seagulls, why couldnt they call them by thier proper name?

Until toddlerhood I would eat nothing but mashed potato, and then pretty much anything as long as mash was served with it.

Then for some reason, when I turned 13, I became intolerant to anything chemically/strong smelling. Just the thought brings severe panic attacks because I'm aware of my breathing. They also give me migraines and a sore throat.

Labels, eww... Also I was terrified of the pressure cooker with its unpredictable whistling noise. Anything with flames (like a fondue cooker).

The really scary sudden noisy things like dogs and fireworks were thankfully never in the house.

The texture and taste of asparagus and any type of liver (beef, pork etc.), never liked it as a kid and still don't like it today.

Also, cleaning products such as VIM (for cleaning the bath tub) or Windex, the smell somehow always gets to my lung, makes me feel dizzy and giving me a hard time to breathe. Happens when I have to clean my bathroom mostly. However, I do not recall having this problem as a kid. It mostly started about 10 years ago.

As a kid, labels used to bother me and sometimes I would end up cutting it myself since it kept scratching my skin. Also, I hate wearing any sweaters made out of wool. It's itchy most of the time.

Kids going in my room and taking stuff and putting things out of place.

Brothers touching my dollhouse and baby sitters and friends.

Coming home and finding my train set I build is all messed up by my brothers and their friends. Also gave me meltdowns and I had to be the bad guy for getting upset as if I was choosing to feel that way.

Coming home and finding my playhouse all messed up from my brothers. Gave me meltdowns and couldn't calm down until it was all fixed

My brothers and their friends being in my personal space and being too loud. Gave me meltdowns and made me anxious

Being forced to wear jeans I didn't like. A torture being forced t wear things i didn't feel comfortable in and Mom being on my back about what I liked to wear

My family's pet my dad brought home and he kept pissing all over, I was happy when he died. The torture was over and my tremendous anxiety my family didn't give a s**t about

Parents getting mad at me for my anxiety

Babysitters. Gave me behavior issues because things were different

Bullies throwing pine cones over the fence at me

Family making messes and not cleaning up after themselves. Also made me anxious and caused me stress

Family slamming the kitchen door too hard and it would make my bedroom door vibrate. Just irritated me only and made me anxious

Too many kids over because my brothers started to socialize more and had their friends over all the time and it make me anxious. Sometimes they would give me meltdowns

Brothers having parties. Gave me meltdowns

Homework. Always a torture. Felt like school never ended so I could never relax. I was always under stress because I couldn't do anything to calm me down due to homework and then it would be bed time and I couldn't have any free time. I am surprised I didn't refuse to do it nor rebelled because I felt it was unfair.

Pretty much all these things upset me or cause me problems and behavior issues and make me have meltdowns. I always hated toys that belonged to everybody so I quit bothering playing with things that weren't mine only because I had no say if my brothers or their friends messed it up or took it apart because it's theirs too and I have to share. It didn't matter if I was planning on coming home and play with it only to find it's ruined.

Hmm, let us see. Much to remember!

1) My Mother cleaning the house, in general, She was always yelling & fussing about something. I hated ALL that awful noise..
2) No real privacy.
3) Too many people around me.
4) Lawn Mowers. I hate the noise!
5) People ragging on me about reading under brighter lights. Really? The ones here already hurt my eyes!

Sincerely,
Matthew