Advice Needed
Okay, I posted this like this because, hedgehogs, I need your help.
It’s all right, Anon. I’m okay, and I can tell you’re genuinely upset by this and really trying to learn; if you weren’t, a number of the things I said in my last response simply would have made you angry.
I don’t know you or your situation, but it sounds to me like you have reasons far beyond this kid being autistic for how you feel. You should never let anyone–yourself included–simply dismiss or devalue how you feel. It sounds as if he’s really not listening to you or respecting you, and that’s simply not okay, autism or no autism.
This is a tricky situation and I’m really unsure what to tell you. I don’t want to be unfair to either of you, because his rights don’t trump yours. He’s not entitled to hang all over you in ways that make you feel uncomfortable or even unsafe simply because he’s autistic. And this doesn’t really sound like just some phobia of autistic people on your part. Clearly you’re concerned that’s what it is, and from certain angles it can look that way, but there’s a few things that read to me as red flags, and I’m worried about both of you.
Fellow hedgehogs, please help us out. Do you think there’s anything Anon can say that will get their feelings through to this boy? Should Anon even make the attempt at this point? Does anyone know of someone who might have some experience mediating in this sort of situation? Any advice or suggestions at all would be much appreciated. We all have varying kinds of experiences, and our autism expresses itself in different ways at times, so maybe someone will have an insight that I’m lacking.
