It's not a secret for anyone in my family that I'm autistic, I tell my grandma to not treat it as taboo when she mentions about it for someone else, because she always go awkwardly like "She... She has social difficulties..." And I correct her saying "I have autism, it's okay to say that".
But that's not what bugs me, but how my family doesn't take it in consideration. I do forgive my mum for not being able to give me accomodations and proper help when I was younger because autism wasn't very much studied and not even considered enough for a female. So I know she was trying to find answers for questions not even she would know to ask.
But nowadays she is very thoughtful, she tells people that will meet me for the first time about my ways, she respects me needing to use ear mufflers. The only thing she fails is to take my moments of meltdown because it's hard to her and the way she grew up to accept someone screaming, crying, hitting the head, throwing stuff. I get it.
The real issue is with my grandparents, I'm particularly really tired tonight, they have a dog, a rottweiler, super sweet but extremely needy dog. I usually go to sleep at 4 to 6 AM because I'm basically a night owl. He himself barks too much, I'm able to hear him barking from the bus stop. Once I suggested they bought those collars that teach the dog to avoid barking. I know that being shocked is a bit cruel but it's not a form of animal abuse. My grandpa said "it's his way of being", ok... But not ok. I sincerely get totally drained when I go upstairs help with the kitchen and have my meals, because he barks so loudly that I can't take it.
This dog is also really anxious, it's crystal clear that he suffers a lot with anxiety. My mum (who's a vet), suggested we gave him an antidepressant that helps with anxiety, which I had a bunch I was planning to donate back to the healthcare unit since I wasn't using it anymore. So I gave it to my grandparents so they can give him the medicine and help the poor dog with his anxiety, but just because in the second day he got sleepy, they stopped giving him the med, so he is back at being extremely anxious and I feel hurt for him because of his struggles.
We barely are able to take him for a walk as he is really strong, I'm legally blind so I struggle a lot on taking him to walks because first: I can't bring my cane with me because it has a risk of getting broken. And second: I can't see other dogs. Particularly bigger dogs he only likes to play with, but small dogs he goes for attack, and I'd normally walk him during the night, like, after 10-11PM so I would avoid other people walking their dogs and I felt safe taking those walks at such late time, because who wants to mess with a person and a big rottweiler? But then, at around 11:30 PM one night that I was taking him back home, some guy that was walking with a dog so tiny I didn't notice passed through me and the rottweiler went for attack, I fell basically face flat on the street, except for I didn't really hit my face, and held firmly his guide so he wouldn't be able to run after that little dog.
Honestly at first I was baffled with the question in my head "Why the heck is a guy walking with this tiny dog at over 11PM?! Isn't he afraid of getting muggled?!"
My neighborhood is very safe, but I usually won't trust anywhere at that time unless I was with the dog. And I'd arrive past 11PM after college, it was never comfortable.
So we now have the factor that he barely goes out for walks, because all of the people in this household that walked with it, ended up falling because he pulled too hard. So he gets walks when my mum and my stepdad come to visit. So we already have a very anxious and needy dog, and this dog doesn't leave for walks, which boosts his anxiety and my grandparents don't want to medicate him because he got sleepy!!! A week or two with the med would get him used to it and stop getting sleepy.
But worst of all is that he howls, and it's a high pitched howling that lasts for about 5 minutes and it's not continuous, he howls and rehowls. And that's what bugs me more. I'm tired tonight not because I did plenty of work, although I'm almost finishing my programming lesson, but because I was barely into my sleep in the morning, after I went to sleep after 6AM, and he started howling like his life depended on it. My grandma is travelling so we try to understand that he is missing her, but not only I was sleeping but he howls while my grand uncle that works night shifts has to sleep. I went to take a few hours nap during the afternoon, basically an hour into the nap I woke up with him howling. I went back to sleep. Woke up at 6PM, went to do work on my computer, he howled during it, and I could hear despite having a very potent headset, so there was I getting more tired. And my grandfather... Well, there's a lot to talk about him but I won't tonight, but he doesn't understand that there are people that feel better waking up in the morning, and people that feel better in the afternoon. He ignores science and believes that we just need to get used to the time we need to get up. I told him that even if I need to get up early, if I have a job in the morning, I will still feel horrible until it hits after noon. But he basically called me a pushover and said that when it's the time I need to stop being a pushover I will know how to regulate my internal clock. Like it's super easy to get an effing job!!! Like people want a disabled person as their employee!!! Like I'm not making a single effort!!! Like I'm not giving my soul into my studies!!! Like it's basically useless my ability to speak basically three languages!!!
So like... Yes, I get the dog needs care, I get he's always jealous when he sees us giving attention to my cats, I get he misses my grandma, I get he's very anxious. I get all of it. What I don't get is the way my grandparents accept his behavior, even more with, when he's being too unbearable they give him a treat so he will shut up, but that's basically teaching him that he will get a treat if he is unbearable.
And I don't get how my grandparents don't respect that by being autistic and already having really sensible hearing, I get overwhelmed and tired by just being a few minutes in their house with the dog barking. They don't respect if I get my ear mufflers, they don't respect I don't want to be around with the blender because of the noise. They think I'm fussy and that, I don't know, that I should grow up??? Well I'm sorry if I have a condition that makes my brain different from yours and that really causes a immense debt in the entirety of my life, being it personal, academic or professional!
(By the way for context, me and my grandparents don't live together but it's the same plot. Our houses are divided by a wall, so in theory I live by myself and that's basically what matters to the government. But I always go upstairs to eat and spend some time with them, because my grandma goes "cry" to my mum if I don't because she feels I don't love her (—_—"))