As someone who’s been wearing glasses since early childhood, I understand perfectly well what it’s like to lose your only pair and, at best, be condemned to staring at blurry silhouettes around you, unable to read, write, or watch videos. And my vision isn’t that bad, but there are folks for whom losing glasses is a complete disaster!
For example, the narrator of our story today recently lost her precious, vitally important glasses, but she was embarrassed for a long time to apply for reimbursement for the cost of new ones. This is because the kid who broke the glasses was her sister-in-law’s autistic son, and the woman was afraid that her in-laws might misunderstand her.
More info: Reddit
Some situations in our family life can actually bring us a true and very hard dilemma, especially when it comes to dealing with mental health
Image credits: benzoix / Magnific (not the actual photo)
The author of the post wears glasses, and recently, her sister-in-law's 8-year-old autistic son destroyed them completely
Image credits: freepik / Magnific (not the actual photo)
The kid is non-verbal and is prone to aggressive outbursts, but the author loves him and used to babysit him several times in the past
Image credits: Frolopiaton Palm / Magnific (not the actual photo)
This time, the kid climbed onto her lap, then suddenly grabbed her $400 glasses and smashed them
Image credits: freepik / Magnific (not the actual photo)
The real tragedy is that the author has very poor eyesight, so she can't live without glasses, but she also can't afford to buy another pair on the spot
Image credits: New Africa / Magnific (not the actual photo)
The kid's mom acted as if it wasn't her problem, and the author hesitated in asking her for any compensation
Image credits: Liza Summer / Pexels (not the actual photo)
She ended up discussing it with her husband, and he decided to talk to his sister himself
Image credits: ufabizphoto / Magnific (not the actual photo)
The mom ended up calling the author names and cussing her out, but finally agreed to pay her at least $150
The sister-in-law threatened to cut the author off for this situation, but then she asked the bro to babysit her kid
So, the Original poster (OP) says she recently faced a difficult dilemma when her sister-in-law’s 8-year-old son broke her expensive glasses. He is autistic and nonverbal, and sometimes prone to aggressive outbursts, but our heroine always tried to be kind to him, and from time to time, she babysat him, just like his mother’s other four kids.
And then one day, when the child climbed onto her lap and started grabbing her face (his typical behavior to get others’ attention, according to the OP), she couldn’t save her glasses from his hands, and he broke them irreparably. The author tried to appeal to the child’s mother, but she said something like: “Well, you have another pair!”
The tragedy of the situation is that the author’s previous glasses no longer fit her because her vision is deteriorating, and she practically needs a new pair almost every year. Without glasses, she can barely see, so she needs them to have a full life. But the OP simply can’t afford to buy new glasses every time, especially since this pair cost her about $400.
The original poster discussed this situation with her husband, and he decided to talk to his sister. She initially claimed it wasn’t her problem, but then, when her bro asked for at least a $150 refund, she started calling the OP names and angrily handed over the money. However, afterward, she threatened to never let the author see her kids again…
Image credits: freepik / Magnific (not the actual photo)
It should be noted right away that the situation described in our story is actually far from rare. In fact, statistics from the CDC confirm that in the US, for example, in 2022, 1 in 31 eight-year-olds were diagnosed with autism, compared to 1 in 36 in 2020. Therefore, the issue of interaction with children and their parents in such cases is very relevant.
In the US, for example, there are legal regulations regarding parental responsibility, though they vary from state to state. At the same time, as this article for Justia rightly notes, a child’s disability alone doesn’t automatically absolve parents of liability for any damage they may cause. In some situations, parental negligence may even result in additional liability.
In any case, as experts note, it makes sense not to escalate the situation but to calmly document the damage, determine insurance coverage, and then contact the child’s parents about possible compensation. This is, of course, provided the situation falls under the definition of parental responsibility. Well, in fact, that’s exactly what the author of our story did.
People in the comments also confirmed that our heroine’s behavior was entirely reasonable and appropriate, so, in the vast majority of responders’ opinion, the author’s sister-in-law should indeed have compensated her for the cost of the broken glasses - at least partially. So what do you, our dear readers, think about this story? Please feel free to share your ideas in the comments as well.
Most commenters supported the author, claiming that the kid's autism doesn't mean that his parents aren't actually responsible for his behavior
