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Her family says she is 'treating him like a toddler'
By Sanika Nalgirkar — Written on Jan 18, 2022
All parents have problems with their children from time to time. However, this mother is unsure whether she is appropriately dealing with a problem with her autistic son.
She went to Reddit to ask people what they think.
She explains how her 16-year-old son who has autism is quite attached to her when it comes to sleeping.
“I (26) adopted my son (16) seven years ago. He's biologically my cousin," she wrote, "He's a cool kid, and we're incredibly close. He's also insanely clingy.”
She further explained that he often sleeps in her bed and naps on her lap. She also said that she consulted his therapists but they haven’t raised any issues.
She even stated that he doesn’t have many problems with staying away from her but given that he is autistic, there will be some “anxiety” for him.
However, her family thinks she is “treating him like a toddler."
The woman’s family doesn’t think it’s a good idea for her to be coddling her son too much and advised her of her wrongdoings.
However, the woman doesn’t take it too seriously as her son is different from other teenagers.
She mentioned that they were at her family’s house for dinner and her mom brought up the issue.
“My mother mentioned how he was too old to be climbing over me, I told her I was fine with it,” she writes. However, her mother didn’t buy it and started lecturing her about it.
“She then went on some rant about me treating him like a toddler, and how in forty years I'll wish I had kicked him out at eighteen because he'll still be clinging to me.”
After hearing enough, the woman and her son left the house but her mom still kept going on her rant through text messages.
“She continued the tirade over text messages, essentially saying before I know it he'll be completely 'infantile' if I dont force him to grow up.”
The woman further wrote that after hearing that, she yelled at her mother while taking her son’s side, which resulted in her family blocking her.
“I wound up calling her and saying that she was a self centered b-tch…and that if my son needs me to look after him until he's sixty, I will. She and siblings have blocked me.”
After that whole situation, her son has just gotten even clingier. Seeing that, her family expressed “concern” for her.
“The fact that I may be 'trapped' looking after him, giving my entire life away to someone else.”
She doesn’t think that she's wrong and refuses to talk to her family. Her husband doesn’t think that she should give in to her family’s words either but feels that she should at least make amends with her family.
While she doesn’t agree with him, it made her wonder whether she is wrong. So, she turned to the internet for answers.
While many people understood the woman’s side and supported her, many advised her to take action in this situation.
One user strongly agreed with the woman and declared her mother as wrong.
“I suggest going low contact with mother, or at least keeping your son away from her," they Reddit user advised.
"The fact she raised this and wanted about it in front of him is unacceptable. It’s not appropriate for her to give her opinion in such a rude and aggressive manner in the first place.”
Some other users addressed this as a problem and advised the woman to do something about it.
“Sorry but as someone who works specifically with people with disabilities, I am incredibly concerned that a therapist has NO CONCERN around this whatsoever…I would encourage second opinion, particular from someone more qualified.”
Sanika Nalgirkar, M.F.A. is a writer and an Editorial Intern at YourTango who writes on entertainment & news, lifestyle, and pop culture topics.