My husband and I got married in January this year.

When we first moved into our condo (Penang), we noticed intermittent screaming and noises coming from the space adjacent to our living room, especially at night. We later found out that the source of the noise was caused by our neighbour’s child, who has autism.

Yes, we did sympathise the kid. Therefore we have tried to ignore and tolerate the noise for 6 months, however, this child’s screaming, screeching and playing of keys at random time of day is taking a toll on my mental and emotional health. I can't sleep well. This has occurred to the point that I can no longer enjoy my personal time and space at the condo. It is very upsetting.

We have been tolerating this disturbance, hoping that the situation will improve following our complaint made to the guard/management but the situation proved otherwise.

We have talked to the child’s mother and had hoped that they could cooperate and minimize the noise level but nothing has changed. Loud clinking of keys are still heard intermittently throughout the day. We talked to the mother for the second time but the mother was defensive and uncooperative. We even suggest some alternatives for them i.e: let the kid plays with other stuff that don't make so much noise, or go to the room and play. But they are unwilling to compromise.

We are already stressed and tired emotionally dealing with this situation, yet our condo management/guard are not helping us to resolve this. We were told to accept, in other words, to tolerate this disturbance simply because of the child’s condition. It is unfair for us to endure this disturbance on a daily basis.

I think I am going to go crazy soon
Any advice on how to deal with this situation?
Thank you for your time to read this post.

Move out.

We spent a lot on renovation etc.. Only been staying here for 6 months

Spend more to soundproof the walls, doors and windows.

move out or they move out

Move out is a better option

I you don't keep thinking about the problem, then it will get away.

You can insulate from external noise through door and windows as well.

Probably this is your best option, even if you move out, that doesn't guarantee the next place you move to won't have noise issue or other issue.

Just bear with it. You think the parents are happy to bear it for life? They don't need you to add salt to the wound. Be empathetic. You too will have a child someday. Buy ear plug to reduce noise.

Or you can just buy a good speaker and play some background music and insulate your house like a studio.

If on the cheap, use corkboard or egg cartons for the walls. Make sure to overlapped each pieces.

Sacrifice 1 foot length of space and build another concrete wall parallel to the existing wall with the noise will reduce that noise greatly. Kinda like "double glazed windows" effect.

The screaming should reduce. The tapping maybe not so much as its lower frequency. Subwoofer sound (bass) cannot be insulated easily, you're lucky its not the subwoofer noise.

This post has been edited by ceo684: Jul 9 2020, 01:25 PM

Sound insulation is the best solution.

One can choose a property but not a neighbour.

Treat it as a bad purchased.

Spending more money on sound proofing is throwing more money on a bad purchased which cannot guaranteed a solution.

You cant solve your neighbour's problem but you can do something on yours.

This post has been edited by mini orchard: Jul 9 2020, 03:26 PM

stop thinking about it.. after a while u will get used to it

So moviy out is not the option..

Then u better sound proofing your unit...
Yes. More cost.. but it's still better for your own good.. since u guys says no moving away...

Let's get this straight.

Autism is a condition no one can have control over. It is something no self-respecting parent would their child to have, nor get rid of. The stress levels they get with a child of such condition are way off the roof.
I highly insist you read up more on Autism and how parents have to try to cope with them.

You speak of being unfair you have to deal with neighbours like these, what makes you think it's "fair" for them to have such a child? Or to deal with them on daily basis, for the rest of the child's life?
They already have a shitload of stress to deal, and now with you "telling them make/let the kid play something else" and as if you know more than they do on how to handle kids with autism when you're yet to be a parent yourself? How can the mother not be defensive when having to face with people like this?

There's nothing fair about the situation. You did not chose to have such neighbours, nor did they chose to have a child with such condition. Don't label them as bad neighbours.

Some already said, either you deal with it, or you move out. Or if you want to be a--holes, get your neighbours to move out.

You mentioned you've already spent a lot with renovation. You can either spend more into looking at ways to further sound-proof your unit (if possible, i.e. thicker windows, door seals, etc.), or weigh which is more important = your mental health (as you've mentioned) or the money you had spent on your renovation.

Either or, there is no easy way of dealing with the situation you are facing.

Sorry, the more I read your post, the more upset I became, as if you are blaming the problem on your neighbours. But understand this, it's not the neighbours who are intentionally putting you through this, and that also they are dealing with the same thing you are. Also note this is something you can escape from, but not themselves.

Love thy neighbor

Can request them to put egg trays on the wall. (for cheap solution)

But a better way is to share the cost to install some sort of sound proofing solution.

Settle It amicably

bruh i have a 25+ autistic neighbor son who have a tendency to sing karaoke on mic non stop.
at first it was kinda annoying especially he sings early in the morning on a weekend, but then after a few months i kinda got use to it, my ear somehow just filter out the noise lol
he still does this occasionally tho, but i usually spend my days away from the house anyway so it doesn't bother me much