how serious is this?

[lucyred68]

My son, who works for a building contractor, called me yesterday to ask me about autism.  They are remodeling a house who's tenant is autistic.  He described the tenant as quite compulsive, and needing routine.  the tenant was quite disturbed by the chaos that happens with a remodel.  Could this be serious for the tenant?  I would hate for him to lose the ground he has obviously gained to be able to live on his own.  my own experience with autism is very limited having worked with a ten year old autistic boy while a part of americorps.  This would deffinately have pushed him over the edge, but his autism was quite severe in comparison.

[888mom]

I'm not autistic, and it would bother me immensely.  I would refuse to live in a house that was being remodeled, if I was a renter.  Construction usually creates fumes in addition to sound, lots of dust (can aggravate breathing especially if you have asthma), and just does not look pleasing.  So for an autistic person, I imagine it would be literally hell.  My daughter hates when I rearrange the furniture in our house in the slightest way.  And autistic people have more difficulty communicating their needs and feelings, at least from what I am learning about autism.  Can he leave the house while it is going on (to get away from the sounds) or does he stay there during the day?  If the remodel won't take long, can he stay with relatives or a friend?  Or is this going to be a long term remodel?  Oh, man, I feel for that poor guy.  But, if a building needs remodeling, than what can you do?  I guess just try to accomodate the poor guy and get him to be as comfortable as you can make him?  If he has trouble communicating by talking, maybe you could ask him to write you a letter to tell you about how his needs could be met?  Um, I don't know enough about autism, especially not in adults, so maybe MJIthewriter or her dad can answer if getting the dude to write out his requirements and them to write out what is happening would work or not. I think not all autistic adults have problem with speaking, but many do.  Again, I don't know exactly.  Just my $.01 (I'm too cheap to give $.02... ha ha ha...  um, maybe I shoudl skip the humor next time....)

[MJIthewriter]

If it were me in that building I'll tell you, it'd be like hell... I hate the sounds of drills, hammers, pile drivers...etc...  It would be a nightmare for me to live there while that stuff is going on.

[mjthewriterdad]

It could be a problem.

You may want to give a heads up as to what is going to happen.  Like show  drawings of what it's going to look like.  

Depending on how techie he is, maybe show the blueprints?  

Maybe give him some little tasks to do to involve him?

Provide ear muff hearing protectors or ear plugs depending on his tolerance.   Some don't like the weight of the muffs and some don't like anything stuffed in the ear canal.

my $.02