OK I have to get this off my chest and this seems as good a place as any to post it.
I have a younger brother who may have been "coddled" in the way you people describe.
He has assburglers and just started off his college career at a local college. He likes acting in plays and was able to be in a play that some students put on. However he was thrown out of it because he was frequently late or did not attend the practices.
He tried to keep it quiet from my parents so he got into long email exchanges with the student director of the play. Then he emailed other cast members to try and get them to "rise up" against her and force them to put him back in.
Finally my mom heard about it and contacted the director herself, to apologize for my brother and explain his assburgers. The director angrily replied that one of her friends (and co-directors) had the disorder and lived independently and worked 3-4 jobs.
This whole fucking summer my brother say on his ass and played video games, living an aimless existence. My parents did not make a serious effort to teach him any constructive skills (laundry, grocery shopping, organization etc.) My Dad does pretty much everything for him, while not really asking or expecting him to be involved/invested in his own life. My Dad is a passive saint, My mom is just incredibly lazy, or just doesn't want to deal with him and his shit.
I understand that autistics need help, and I believe they should be given a degree of help, toleration and compassion. But my brother is a perfect example of the disastrous consequences of coddling. You do everything for them, and once they get into the real world they can't really function.
This summer was a GOLDEN opprotunity to teach my younger bro the facts of life and basic rudimentary skills, but my parents werent buying i guess..
The whole seems odd to me. My parents love my brother and want him to succeed but (unless I missed a ton) they did not make a serious or reasonable effort to prepare him for the "real world"
