Spit-up On My Shoulder

This was in today’s Dear Abby column in my paper:

Dear Abby: My nephew, “Vincent,” is 16 and has had problems with obsessive handwashing for years. I have enough professional experience to strongly suspect that he suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder.

My brother and his wife refuse to believe their child has a problem and will not take him to get help. My nephew’s hands are chafed and raw, and his parents reprimand him for this behavior when he really needs professional What can I do? - Worried Aunt in Florida.

Here is the first paragraph of Abby’s answer:

Dear Worried Aunt: Your sister-in-law may not want her son “labeled,” but ignoring the problem will not resolve it. And reprimanding the young man for something he can’t help is cruel.

What? How did “brother and his wife” jump to only addressing the sister-in-law’s part in the problem? Abby’s answer also implies that the mom is solely cruel. Nowhere in the rest of Abby’s response is the father mentioned. Urg! Just another example of putting all blame on the mom.