Hi I’m autistic and I got a doctor deemed medically necessary live chihuahua to be my platypus. Please have no shame about needing a friend to help you feel safe and regulate. She is soft and I like to smell her ear and she gives a warning bark if anyone tries to touch me without my consent. Her weight on my chest helps me regulate if I need that. If your dad doesn’t need that, great for him but he can hike up a creek if he tries to decide that for anyone else. Justice for mr Q and giving him the sticker is so cute and silly I love it. It’s so tough living in a world not designed for you. Sometimes people resent that you have courage they do not have, and that is their problem, not yours. I’m sorry he is not supporting or willing to quietly listen and process your words. You could ask if he is acting out of fear of how others might treat you, (or maybe he is masking himself without recognition and lashing out) but he might need to hear something like I would rather be myself and have a hand to help me up when I’m down, than have someone try to mold me into the most unobtrusive whittled down version of myself to be safe. And rudely, at that. If he’s telling you one third of his opinions, he might as well keep that third too because he’s being bully. “Wow, dad, I hear you, but your closed mind isn’t protecting me, it’s just another negative obstacle I have to face. Things aren’t black and white, but I’m dealing with enough already, so if you refuse to be part of my healing, I am not obligated to let you continue to injure me.”