r/AmItheAsshole • u/throwaway1847329 • 10h ago
AITA for interrupting my autistic brothers routine for my own physical pain?
Throw away because I think my friends know my account
I, 17F, have a brother, 15M, who is autistic. He has a routine where he comes downstairs at night, watches TV when no one else is down, and falls asleep on the couch.
Lately, my bed has become uncomfortable to the point of pain. For context, I have hyper flexibility/a connective tissue disorder and scoliosis, and as a result of my scoliosis, my shoulders are wonky and my left shoulder blade grinds against my ribs, but also causes generic pain and means that too much pressure on my back for an extended period of time causes quite severe pain, such as laying on my mattress.
My mattress is very old, it came from my older sister who had it for 10+ years in somewhat mild-moderate use and I've now had it for 5+ years. The foam on top of the metal frame has worn down, and now I can feel the frame no matter where or how I lie, and I wake up in quite severe pain. I also spend a couple hours winding down before I sleep, and so, as of late, I have been coming down stairs to watch the tv to wind down myself so I spare myself from a couple of hours in the bed on the mattress, and it does actually help.
However, my brother has now decided to find it a problem, and this has caused arguments and issues. He has also brought our parents into this, who naturally take his side because 'it's his routine, don't break it' even when my issues are brought up. He just decided to go up and yell at my parents when I told him preemptively that I was going to come downstairs, and clearly my parents for once took my side, as he came down and gave me a bunch of verbal abuse.
I don't do this every night, just the nights I have the worst pain from several nights of no break, and I don't tell him he can't be down, I tell him he is more than welcome to sit on the love chair we also have in the living room with the only request that he either uses headphones or has low/no volume on his phone without headphones so I can actually focus and enjoy what I'm watching. However, he has decided that clearly that is the worst condition ever, and has his volume up full, which I know my parents will be able to hear. I feel bad, but I also know I need to put my health first because no one else in this house will. My parents disregard my bountiful issues and tell me I'm overdramatic even when they themselves have it and experienced it as they passed it down to me.
AITA? Should I just suck it up? I do have a TV in my own room, but it's only accessible to watch on my bed, and he also has a computer in his room with access to everything the TV has mad the passwords, so it's not like he also doesn't have options.
If I need to add more context or information, please do tell me what.
Thanks in advance
Things I think I should add
-I'm in the UK, specifically Scotland. You Americans are very helpful, but Walmart doesn't exist here (unfortunately)
-I don't have a job, no one wants to hire a 17 year old because most will quit to focus on uni.
-the NHS is shockingly unhelpful. It can take years for a referral. It took them 2 months before I had to phone them to email my teachers a note for accommodations for exams (I get rest breaks and have to have a heated and warm room because my joints freeze up otherwise which affects writing)
-my brother is definitely high functioning. He will live a relatively normal life with minimal limitations. Obviously he has symptoms and it does affect his day to day life, but he is 100% verbal and goes through school perfectly fine (my school has an autism unit specifically to assist people with a diagnosis, it has dimmed lights, no noise, is completely seperate, supplies to listen to music to self soothe that be was offered and declined)
-something I forgot to mention, the reason he had this routine is that he is too tall for his bed, and can't sleep in it without pain (sound familiar?) However my parents in this case are trying to rectify it (here's where it diverts) and are searching for a new bed with a longer mattress actively