Navigating adolescence is hard enough without your safe spaces being challenged.

For one autistic teen, a treasured stuffed animal symbolized survival and comfort, until it was taken and dismissed by someone who should have known better.

And what followed exposed deep cracks in an already fragile relationship.

You’ll want to read on for this one.

AITA for shouting at my stepdad after he trashed my stuffed animal ?

I (16, male) have an extremely large collection of stuffed animals, including Jellycats, Care Bears, and Build-A-Bears, which I began collecting when I was around 11 or 12.

I was bullied during my childhood for being autistic and spent a lot of time in hospitals, which made me feel like I had to act more mature than I was to try and deal with it. Collecting these toys has helped me reconnect with my younger self.

I will admit I do have a very big connection to them — they all have names and personalities.

His stepdad has never truly understood him or what makes him tick.

My mom has been very supportive when it comes to my neurodivergence, but my stepdad isn’t. My relationship with my stepdad has always been strained.

A month ago, he stopped taking his medication for depression, believing he didn’t need it. Since then, our interactions have deteriorated.

We’ve been snapping at each other, and my attempts to set boundaries have been ignored; he sees them as an attack on him.

So one day, he returned home to find something heartbreaking.

The main reason I came here is that yesterday I was running late for a taster day at the college I’m starting at, and I accidentally left my door open.

I thought it would be fine since we have a gate at the top of the stairs to stop our dogs from coming up.

When I got home, I realized that my only childhood stuffed animal I’ve kept, Charleston, wasn’t on my bed.

I tried looking around, thinking maybe I had left it on the floor, but he wasn’t there.

So when he asked around, his stepdad owned up to the dastardly deed.

I went downstairs to ask my stepdad if he had seen Charleston, and he told me that the dogs had taken him off my bed.

He let the dogs have him because he thought it was “just a stupid stuffed toy that I should have left behind in secondary school.”

I feel like I might have overreacted because I shouted at him, telling him he had no right to throw my stuffed animal away like that.

Things only got worse from there.

I know I shouldn’t have, but I swore at him.

It escalated into a fight where he said that I need to start acting like an adult, get a job, and grow up — and that I’m a slob.

He isn’t entirely wrong; I’ve been putting off getting a job before starting college to see if I can handle it.

In the heat of the moment, I told him he was weighing down the family and that my life was better before he married my mom.

Luckily, all was not lost, but the damage between him and his stepdad was done.

I ended up going through the trash and found Charleston. He was completely fine — just a bit dirty, which was an easy fix.

I haven’t spoken to my stepdad since.

His mother isn’t exactly on his side either.

My mom thinks I’m being overdramatic since it’s just a stuffed animal, but to me, it means so much more than that.

My stepdad has always hated Charleston, as if his very existence offends him.

His stepdad’s story isn’t lining up either.

I’m wondering how the dogs got to Charleston if the gate was closed — and why he didn’t have any marks on him.

If my dog had gotten hold of him, there would only be shreds left.

Overall, he feels betrayed by his family.

They both know how much Charleston means to me; he’s been there for me through every surgery and bad day at school.

Plus, the toy was discontinued, so if I hadn’t found him, I wouldn’t have been able to buy another.

AITAH?

He wasn’t sure what hurt more: almost losing the toy, or realizing how little it mattered to anyone else.

What did Reddit have to say?

His parents are supposed to be building him up, not tearing him down.

Someone needs to grow up, but it’s not him.

His stepdad most definitely wouldn’t like if someone treated him so poorly.

His stepdad only tears others down to make other people feel just as small as him.

Charleston may have made it out of this debacle safe and sound, but the sense of security he has in his relationship with his family will be much harder to recover.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.