I (28F) have a cousin, Happy 29f (not her real name), who has Down syndrome. After seeing how poorly she was treated by our family, I took her in to live with me. I’ve been doing my best to give her a better life, providing her with her own room, new clothes, and enrolling her in programs that support people with disabilities. Things have been going really well for her, and I’m happy to see her thriving.

However, there’s a kid in my neighborhood, let’s call him Tim 12m (not his real name), who has been taking advantage of Happy. Tim befriended her and started manipulating her in subtle ways. For example, he would ask her to bring snacks from my house for him and his friends, borrow her iPad for hours and not let her play with it, and even encourage her to do bad things like throwing stones at neighbors roofs. When Happy doesn’t do what Tim wants, he rallies the other kids to exclude and bully her, making her feel left out and rejected. It became pretty clear that he was using her to get things and even trying to manipulate her into buying him stuff when we went to the store.

I’ve had several conversations with Happy about setting boundaries and how real friends don’t manipulate or control you. I’ve also talked to Tim about his behavior, but he just stops hanging around for a few days and then comes back as if nothing happened.

At this point, I’m feeling frustrated and worried about Happy, but I don’t want to completely restrict her from socializing. I just want to protect her and make sure she’s not being taken advantage of. I’ve tried to step in and set boundaries, but Tim doesn’t seem to take me seriously.

I finally got the chance to speak with Tim's parents later today after trying to reach out to them for several days. I will see how this goes.

So AITA for being overly protective and not letting Tim take advantage of my cousin? What more can I do to handle this situation?