Not so much a question of 'no respect' as the sort of reply you get when you don't provide any background information. There are a lot of different sorts of autoharp (usually written as a single word, incidentally) and you need to describe yours a little if you want useful advice.

Presumably you are completely new to the instrument, so I'd suggest a little basic research first; then you will be in a better position to ask specific questions that people can answer for you. For a start, you might try

UK Autoharp Association  UK-based site with various resources and links to others.

Autoharp: help for the perplexed  A couple of pages that may prove useful. Plenty of further links.

Those should give you something to be going on with; they will already have done the work on sourcing spares, strings and so on. The autoharp has a much bigger following in the USA, of course, and most resources are likely to be found there. A search for autoharp discussions here in the Forum will find you plenty of stuff; largely beginners' issues which may answer a lot of questions you haven't thought of yet.

As to the instrument itself, the majority that you'll pick up from attics and the like are pretty poor things; an interesting novelty only that may cost less than a decent set of replacement strings (note, though, that strings can last for many years and don't typically require regular changing unless you're a serious player). But maybe you have a nice one. Do let us know.

The instrument is often picked up by people who think it's a short-cut to becoming a 'musician' without actually having to learn anything, and that's one reason why there are so many of them. They can be played to a fairly sophisticated level, but the usual experience is probably the kind Joe describes. Bodhrans, of course, are another case in point; though because of the inherent limitations of the autoharp, you won't see them very often in UK sessions.