Dear Annie: I have an aunty who has been there for me since my childhood. She has always had my back. My mum is absent, and this aunty the one who has filled in for her all these years. Years back, I felt like I could tell her anything and she would understand me. I adored her so much, still do. But recently, I began to feel a disconnect between us. I asked her why she had been distant lately, and she said that she feels as though I’m competing with her child for her attention. No matter how much I try to explain my feelings, how important our relationship is to me, she brushes me off. I feel so helpless now. What do I do? — Aunty Anxiety

Dear Aunty Anxiety: Give her space to work out whatever the issue seems to be. Maybe her child has been complaining and pushing her to pay less attention to you, or they’ve been going through some hardship and your aunty feels guilty, believing she hasn’t given all the attention to her child that she could have. Whatever the case, this is about her, not you. Do your best not to take it personally. Remember that you are loved.

Dear Annie: I’ve never sent anything to you before, but in today’s column you noted Autism Speaks as a good resource for learning about autism, and I wanted to respond. The autistic community (of which I am a part) regards the organization as quite misleading and damaging due to their not-so-subtle implications that autistic people are worth less than neurotypicals. One of their main goals is finding a “cure,” which implies that autism is all bad. I’m all for having the dysfunctional parts of my brain fixed, but there’s a lot of great things that come with being autistic, and I never want to lose those. Autism Speaks is partially responsible for the widespread prejudice against autistic people.

The following are some resources that contain good information about autism Spectrum disorder: Autism Society, (www.autism-society.org), WHO fact sheet on autism (www.who.int/newsroom/ fact-sheets/detail/autism-spectrum-disorders) and the CDC page about autism (www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/index.html). — Anya M.

Dear Anya: Thank you for your enlightening letter. I will recommend these resources in the future.