My 5 year old nephew has autism and I find his stimming particularly difficult to be around. He will spin in circles letting out a continuous high pitched shriek, will bang repeatedly on the floor with a toy, and will turn lights on and off. These stimming episodes can last for hours.

I would love to visit my sister or have her visit me but I can't tolerate my nephew for more than about a half hour.

I feel really awful because I know it really hurts her that I have such a low tolerance, but his screams and shrieks are literally like nails on a chalkboard to me. I tried cotton in my ears to fill the noise and it didn't help.

Is there anything I can do? I've tried listening to shrieks on YouTube and stuff like that to desensitize me but it's not the same. I've tried building up my time with him but after 5 years, all I've gotten to is a half hour. I just feel so so bad.