Former Manchester United player and legend Paul Scholes has revealed he has decided to move away from commentary to take care of his autistic son. Speaking on the podcast ‘Stick to Football’ Scholes who won Premier League and Champions League titles with Manchester United opened up on his 20-year-old son’s condition.
“Everything I’m going to do now just works around him,” said Scholes. “I do studio work, but everything is built around his day. Last season, on Thursday nights I’d do the Europa League for Man United, that’s the night I’d usually have him, so he was getting all agitated, biting and scratching. He knows the pattern’s not there straight away. And I did that for years really, always thinking I’ve got to stop this at some point, so I had the chance to do the podcast and I thought that would suit me more – well, not me, Aiden,” he added.
Scholes had kept his son’s diagnosis private for a long time and even revealed once that Alex Ferguson even dropped him from a game when he was trying to handle the situation at home. Scholes now hoped talking about the difficulties and the joyous moments of his son can help other families dealing with a similar situation.
“I never got a break from it, even when playing,” said Scholes. “It was very hard in those days. I don’t think they diagnosed it until he was two-and-a-half years old. But you knew early something was wrong, but then you get the diagnosis, and I’d never heard of it. I remember the first time after we were playing Derby away and I just didn’t want to be there. I remember the manager dropped me the week after actually, and I hadn’t told anyone. I ended up telling them a few weeks later, I think, as it was quite hard,” he said.
The 50-year-old said he isn’t looking for any sympathy, but was more concerned about his son’s future. “Even now, I don’t want sympathy or anything. I just thought, even if I did speak to someone about it, it’s not going to help Aiden. The big concern now is, because you’re getting a bit older, what happens when you’re not here? That’s the thing that’s now on my mind all the time.”
