She Refused To Skip Her School’s Homecoming Dance In Order To Make Her Autistic Brother Feel Better
This 15-year-old girl’s brother, 16, has autism.
Even though her brother is a year older, he was held back in school, so she and her brother are in the same grade now.
Growing up, she always felt like her parents didn’t care about her, and in her view, it seemed like they chose to have her in the first place so that her brother would have a companion.
She clarified that she never suffered from neglect, and her parents never mistreated her.
However, her parents made it clear that they hoped her life would revolve around her brother.
As a child, her parents made her participate in the activities her brother wanted to do, and her parents made them do everything together.
“When I wanted to learn piano, and he wanted to do karate, we both had to do karate. When my friends invited me to playdates, I could only go if he could, too,” she said.
At a very young age, her parents would talk other parents into including her brother in activities, but as she grew a bit older, she stopped doing things with friends because she was tired of having to bring her brother with her.
When she was in the sixth grade, her family moved, so she struggled to make friends at her new school since her brother was always around.
annanahabed – stock.adobe.com- illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
Then, she and her brother entered middle school, and her struggles continued. She had to do seventh grade online, and her brother tagged along with her all through eighth grade.
“Once we got to high school, I just stopped caring about what my parents said and did whatever I wanted. My ‘rebellion’ mostly consisted of joining leadership and a bunch of clubs. I made lots of friends and started hanging out with them,” she explained.
Even though her parents weren’t thrilled with her newfound independence, they weren’t going to keep her stuck in the house against her will just so that she wouldn’t be able to participate in after-school activities without her brother by her side.
While she cares for her brother and has a lot of love for him, she can’t help but feel some bitterness and resentment toward him because of how her parents forced her to do everything with him while growing up.
Unfortunately, her brother hasn’t had any luck making friends, and he hangs out in his room most of the time when he’s not at school. Plus, when she has plans to do things with her friends or after-school activities, he throws epic fits about it.
“I feel bad for him, but I’m sick of being his constant unwilling companion, and there is nothing I can do to help him. My parents always take his side and try to make me feel bad for living my life. Our latest conflict was about Homecoming. I’m a princess, and I’m really excited because I couldn’t go last year because I was sick. My brother asked a girl to go with him, but she rejected him, so he’s really upset and wants me to not go because he’s not going,” she shared.
Yesterday, there was a school picnic to celebrate the beginning of Homecoming Week. Her brother didn’t attend the picnic, but she did. Since she was going to the picnic and to other Homecoming events, her brother threw a massive fit in response.
Then, her parents asked if she could stay home rather than go to the Homecoming dance. She said that it doesn’t matter to her how her brother feels about it, but she is going to Homecoming. Also, she added that she doesn’t want her brother to rule how she lives her own life.
After that, her parents told her that her brother was struggling with his mental health due to not having any friends.
They went on to say that her brother doesn’t get good grades, and he sees her having a blast with her friends and doing well academically, so it just makes him feel worse about himself.
None of this made her change her mind, and she said that the state of her brother’s mental health wasn’t her issue, and she doubled down on her decision to go to Homecoming no matter how her brother or her parents felt about it.
Since the fight with her parents, her brother has been sobbing in his room and refusing to come downstairs to eat dinner with the rest of the family.
Do you think she did the right thing by refusing to skip the Homecoming dance to make her brother feel better?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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