Dad Slammed Over Why He's Excluding Daughter, 7, From Sister's Wedding

A man has been dragged for refusing to take his daughter to a wedding because one of his children was not included.

In a post on Reddit, the 37-year-old dad explained: "My sister is getting married in June. I have two daughters, one neurotypical (7 years old) and one high-needs nonverbal autistic daughter (5 years old)."

The father had become disgruntled when he learned about his sister's wedding guest rule—there would be no children aged 5 or under.

"Which I think was a "polite" way of excluding my disabled child," he wrote. "My wife or myself would have immediately took her outside if she had a meltdown."

He explained: "My 6-year-old nephew (also neurotypical) just 'made the cut' and gets to go, there's only two other children under 5 in the family no known disabilities yet. I understand her wedding her choice, but I'm not okay with including one of my daughters but not the other."

With the summer wedding approaching, the dad explained that his 7-year-old daughter really wanted to go—excited to wear a pretty dress and see her aunt in a bridal gown.

However, with one of his daughters excluded, the dad refused to take one and not the other.

"Since it is my sister, I don't feel right missing her wedding so we are going without the girls and my in-laws will watch them that night," he explained.

However, his oldest daughter is upset that she won't be able to attend the wedding: "My sister says I'm fostering resentment, but I think I'm teaching my daughter it's not okay to exclude family due to a disability," wrote the dad. "The way I see it it's my sister who created this situation, not me."

A representative from the Autism Society of America told Newsweek: "The Autism Society of America recognizes the unique challenges, experiences, and needs of those within the Autism community.

"While no two individuals or families will share identical circumstances, there are many people with Autism and their families who need additional accommodations and supports in their greater community to be able to live fully," the representative said.

"With appropriate services and supports, training and information, individuals with Autism will grow, learn, and flourish—even if at a different developmental rate than others. The Autism Society of America works every day to provide education, resources, advocacy and supports to create a more inclusive world for Autistic individuals to live fully within their communities," they added.

In more than 2,000 comments, Reddit users dragged the dad for his decision to refuse to take either of his children to the wedding.

"I think you're reading too much into this because you're sensitive about your kid. It sounds like sister made a pretty standard wedding request for no smaller kids because kids under 5 are notorious for being disruptive which, by your own admission, is likely to happen with your daughter," read one reply with 23,000 upvotes.

It continued: "I understand that you must feel incredibly defensive on your daughter's behalf, but your sister isn't discriminating against your child who you admit is likely to have a meltdown during a very important event she is trying to save everyone—including your special needs daughter—from an incredibly uncomfortable afternoon."

Another Redditor agreed: "He's punishing his seven-year-old more than his sister and building resentment between his kids."

"You going to the wedding while leaving 7 year old home with her sister to teach her not to exclude people with disabilities is a double standard," wrote another commenter.

Another Reddit user wrote: "I'm saying this both as a person diagnosed with autism and as a person who helped raise autistic kids. Why do you want to take your kid to a place they will have a meltdown? We are aware enough to be mortifyingly embarrassed by having to have to be run out of places in front of people we know. This is how you give a kid anxiety and depression on top of autism."

Newsweek has reached out to the poster u/Mindless-Dress-3608 for comment. We were not able to verify the details of this case.

Has a wedding come between your relationship with a loved one? Let us know via life@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.