My five-year-old autistic son says he doesn’t like me

First of all, I’m on mobile, so I apologize for any formatting issues.For the past few weeks my five-year-old, high functioning autistic son has been saying he doesn’t like me. He says he likes daddy and his sister, but not mommy. I don’t know why, or where this is coming from. I originally thought it was because I was stricter than my husband is with him and wasn’t as lenient with food choices (I try an have them eat healthier than my husband does, husband has a huge sweet tooth and shares and buys candy for our son all the time).I don’t know what to do. I’m heartbroken over this. I adore my kids and love them to bits, and the fact that my son says he doesn’t like me kills me inside. My family says that he doesn’t know what he is saying and that it will pass, but he is very smart and it really does seem like he knows what he is saying.I try not to let him see how much it bothers me and I say things like, “well I like you and I love you no matter what,” and he responds with, “I don’t like you, I like daddy.” Yesterday I said that I liked daddy, my son, and my daughter, and my son didn’t like that. That’s when he started saying that he only likes daddy and his sister.He’s always been a daddy’s boy, and it never bothered me until he outright started saying that he didn’t like me. My daughter is a mommy’s girl, so it balanced out and I never really thought twice about the situation.Anyway, does anyone have any advice for me? Is this just a phase that others have been through that passes? I cried myself to sleep last night and it’s tearing me apart. I’m not sure how to handle this. Thank you for any input. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2ICVTcd