We’ve all heard of sibling rivalry and the likelihood that kids are going to pick on each other from time to time. That’s just part of growing up together, right?
But what happens when one of the kids has a disability, and another kid takes the pranking too far?
One teenage girl found herself as the target of this on the “Am I the A**hole?” (AITA) subReddit.
Redditor aitamadsibs decided to tell others what happened, which only seemed to make the situation worse.
So much so, the Original Poster (OP) wondered if she was in the wrong for speaking up.
She asked the sub:
“AITA for telling my parents and oldest sister that my brother took my hearing aids and glasses?”
The OP was in a difficult living situation.
“I’m ([Female] 13) the youngest of 5. My siblings are Tyler ([Male] 16), Eric ([Male] 20), Sophia ([Female] 26), and Amber ([Female] 30).”
“I got screwed over in the genetic lottery and basically, my heart, lungs, eyes, ears, and stomach are screwed up and I have dyslexia and anxiety.”
“My parents have always treated me differently and give me more attention and are kinda overprotective over me.”
“Tyler, Eric, and Sophia all hate me for it and are either mean to me or pretend I don’t exist.”
“Amber and I are really close though.”
“Also, everyone except for Amber still lives at home.”
Recently the situation got worse.
“When my parents were at work and I was in the shower, Eric hid my glasses and hearing aids.”
“I can see and hear without them but not very well.”
“Sophia and Tyler knew that he took them and where they were, but they wouldn’t give them back either.”
“I told my parents and Amber what happened and it’s been crazy since then.”
“Tyler is grounded and my parents took his phone, laptop, and tv; and my parents dropped Eric and Sophia from their phone plan and changed the wifi password so they can’t use that either.”
“Amber was even madder than my parents and she threatened to call CPS (child protective services) if they can’t get my siblings to stop being like this.”
“She’s also been making me stay at her house when my parents aren’t home.”
“Tyler, Eric, and Sophia are all really mad at me and my parents are mad at Amber for threatening to call CPS.”
“Everyone’s mad at everyone so I wanted to know if I was the a**hole.”
Fellow Redditors weighed in by declaring:
- NTA: Not the A**hole
- YTA: You’re the A**hole
- ESH: Everybody Sucks Here
- NAH: No A**holes Here
Some were very critical of the OP’s fully-grown siblings.
“Eric is a 20-year-old man who hid the glasses and hearing aids of his 13-year-old sister who has health issues. Eric is a monster.”
“Sophia is a grown-a** 26-year-old woman. The fact that she didn’t stop this when she knew it was happening is appalling.”
“Tyler should still know better at 16.”
“They all deserved what they got and Eric/Sophia should be happy they weren’t asked to move out.”
“NTA” – ollyator
“I’ll admit, I thought it looked a bit harsh that the parents were dropping the kids from the phone plan. Then I went back to look at the ages.”
“Just WTF all around. Definitely would be giving Eric and Sophia a notice that they have two months to figure out other living arrangements after that.” – Sageypie
“She is the youngest of them all and she has hearing and sight problems.”
“Two of them should’ve moved out already but are still bumming it out at their parents and they still do this? D**n. Even the kid at 16 should know better.”
“I mean, what else could you do [but tell]? If you kept quiet, it might’ve given the impression that they could do so or do worse and get away with it.”
“At least this way, your parents and eldest sis will look after you more and hopefully prevent this from happening, while the other three idiots are now fore-warned. You are NTA kid. You aren’t.” – faux_critique
Others were worried for the OP’s safety.
“I actually was surprised that the parents responded so, well, appropriately. Maybe they are just as unimpressed with their three middle kids as we are.”
“Not to be a paranoid a**, but these kids reminded me of the second-to-the-last season of Orange Is the New Black. They hate poor OP on a level that concerns me.” – marshmallow_spencer
“Eric is 7 years older than OP. Sophia is 13 years older! I doubt they were really feeling any lack of attention from the parents, at least not when they were young.”
“My sister is about ten years younger than me, and I never felt like I had to compete for my parents’ attention. For one thing, I was old enough to know that she was a baby and needed more help. For another thing, I was old enough that I didn’t want that kind of one-on-one attention any longer.”
“I can see Tyler being more upset about OP needing more attention, since that’s a smaller age gap.”
“But holy cow, the siblings are all old enough to know better! It’s not like OP can help being disabled and medically fragile, and needing more assistance.”
“OP, imagine if you used a wheelchair or a prosthetic leg, and your 20-year-old brother took it. That would obviously be wrong, right? It’s no different with your hearing aids and glasses.”
“You need them to function at your full capacity, and they help keep you safe. You are used to using them to see and hear. What he did, and the fact that your other middle siblings covered up for him, was absolutely vile. It was theft and medical abuse.”
“Don’t ever let them make you feel bad about standing up for yourself! Disabled people often have to be their own best advocates. You deserve to be treated with the same respect anyone else would get.” – Purple_Midnight_Yak
“If Amber called the cops instead of CPS where I grew up, Eric would have been arrested as a juvenile and the prosecutor would have a choice between theft, assault, and hate crime charges.”
“I’m saddened that the OP thinks she’s somehow to blame for being the victim.”
“I’m willing to bet her parents really do ignore the other kids in her favor though. Probably ESH here, except OP and Amber.” – Elesia
Though the OP might think she’s in the wrong here for starting all of these arguments, it was clearly an argument worth having.
As the subReddit agreed, the OP has to advocate for herself and her disabilities, besides the fact that all of these people really should have known better than to pull such a tasteless, and potentially dangerous, prank.