Thanks. I checked this out, but she would have to send me a link.
I asked her if there is anyway I could speak to him, and her answer is “Trade in your phone for an iPhone”.
I don’t know. All I want to do is speak to my son.
I get that, but banging on about your ex is all I see going on here. 
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never underestimate the power of vengeance and pettiness. it happens on the daily here, and the OP story is sadly not super rare 
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I won’t accept that I will be excluded from my son’s life because I have mental illness. It’s also something I will never apologize for.
Maybe to Taiwanese it would be better if I had cancer and could not work.
Mental illness is not a choice.
There’s no difference between it and any other disease, except it’s usually more difficult to cure.
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Yeah. I don’t mean too. It’s more the anger I feel towards her not letting me speak to my son and the ridiculous demand that I can only talk to him on an iPhone with Facetime.
Have you considered the anger she felt for you when you were stuck in her house doing nothing for a year due to your what – sudden(?) mental health issues? I mean, was the EU trip where she bought you a jacket during that time? 
Get an iphone. It’s not that expensive, and from what you say, totally worth it, as it will allow you contact with your son. If you can’t do that, how are you going to afford a lawyer and get visitation rights in writing? One thing at a time. Get the phone and re-establish contact.
You didn’t respond to whether or not you were in therapy now. Are you? Should you be? There are many strategies you could learn to help you when panic sets in, or whatever your problem is.
And I’m out soon, as my “advice” will pretty much be the same. However, the whole “I’ll never apologize for my mental illness” thing is a cop-out imho. A very selfish one, again, imho. Good luck. Good bye. 
Ridiculous. So you guys think it’s okay his wife denies access to his son because he doesn’t have a smart-phone?? Maybe he should get one because it’s a useful device to have, but that is such a crap rationale for not letting someone communicate with their own flesh and blood. It’s his son!
If he has mental health issues that she can’t handle, okay a divorce is fair. But if he’s not abusive, then it is not right to cut him off from his own child.
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Suck it up and buy second-hand older version iPhone. You’ll be happier knowing you have a chance to talk to your son. He’s worth it, as you certainly know.
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nobody said that and he does have a smartphone, just not an iphone.
Getting an iphone wont solve the entire problem, but it solves the problem of using the facetime app as a means to communicate with his child.
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As others have said, if this were the case you’d be on ebay right now looking for a second-hand iPhone or downloading the App that TaipAmy recommended.
It’s completely understandable, but what you want most, it seems, is for things to go your way. And it just isn’t going to happen. For the time being at least, you’re going to have to accept that access to your son is not going to be on your terms. We don’t know the whole story here, but whatever your wife’s faults, she (I’m guessing) wants what’s best for your/her son and is doing what she thinks is appropriate. And the thing is, she might actually be right: mental illness is not just like any other illness. It can be absolutely devastating for a child to have to deal with a mentally-ill parent. So in a way, she’s actually protecting you: she’s making sure that your son has only limited contact when you’re not in the right headspace to be an effective parent. In other words, are you sure you want him to see you like this? When you’re better, she may well change her tune.
It’s going to be damn hard, but the only person who can fix this is you. And until you’ve got your life back on the rails, it’s inevitable that you’ll have to do things that don’t seem right in your present condition. But a few years from now, you might look back on this and see the sense of it all.
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And how does that change the point at all? Does he need an iPhone to talk to his child? Are you guys all shills for Tim Cook or something? The guy should lawyer up if the wife makes all these insane non-court mandated conditions to talk to his child.
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Buy an iPhone and speak to his kid today or lawyer up and speak when?
She is being an arse but I know which one I’d choose.
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Apparently, yes.
no
agreed
but that takes time and money, especially from overseas. In the meantime, a $60 iphone solves the immediate problem.
Yes - I mean I would not install a myriad of apps just to please someone I don’t like. Every app running in background costs you battery life - I for example ask aynone wanting to contact me that I don’t think it’s worth it to use Signal - yes at some point I gave in and got whatsapp too - my Line is only active while being physically in Taiwan - but I would prefer anyone using signal so deciding on one app to be contacted only is fair.
BTW - nice example why marrying up is a risky game… If you cannot provide what you were used for it’s game over.
Did your wife know about your mental illness when you married? If yes then maybe you have some chances in front of court. If no then stick to her terms no matter how ridiculous. It shows your doing an effort. Every other way is showing her no respect for f**king up the life she was looking forward to.
Remember - in China a divorce went through because a woman didn’t tell her husband about her beauty ops and the children weren’t good looking.
If you go to court likely she will get the court to order you out of your sons life forever while now you still have some chances. Your are wasting the last bit of face she is giving you.
And if someone turns mentally ill in a relationship - I would see that as failure on the persons term. If you had an accident it would be a bit different - but mental problems are not what someone marries into.
Like I and others have calmly said, one thing at a time. 
He might have an iPad which he uses for games, media, and video calls.
That email makes more sense if he’s using an iPad with limited apps, and he can choose to answer your Facetime calls on his iPad (but you’re blocked on your wife’s phone).
Just get a 2nd-hand iOS device already. Yes it’s a ridiculous demand, but at least you can talk to your son.
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The OP gets an iPhone and she therefore lets him talk to his son.
OK, we’ll see how that pans out.
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