Paul Scholes has opened up on his son’s severe autism and how it has impacted his career, with the Manchester United legend saying ‘everything is built around’ the 20-year-old who is non-verbal
Paul Scholes took a step back from commentary duties earlier this year in order to maintain a consistent schedule for his son, who lives with autism.
The Manchester United icon is a devoted dad to three children – Arron, Alicia and Aiden – all now in their twenties. Aiden received an autism diagnosis during childhood and is non-verbal, with Scholes explaining on the Stick to Football podcast just how significantly his son’s care requirements have shaped his professional choices.
He said: “I made a decision this year cos of Aiden, obviously due to his special needs you might know about. All the work I do now is just around his routines because he has quite a strict routine every single day, so I just decided everything I’m going to do it is around Aiden.”
The former midfielder added: “I’m not with Claire anymore so we have him three nights each and Claire’s mum has him on a Friday night. We always do the same things with him as he doesn’t know what day of the week it is or time.
“But he’ll know from what we’re doing what day it is. I pick him up every Tuesday from his day care and we go swimming. Loves swimming, then we get his pizza on the way home.
“Thursday pick him up, go for something to eat, go home. Sunday, I pick him up from Claire’s house and we go to Tesco where he buys a trolley full of chocolate. So, he doesn’t know what day or time it is, but he knows from what we’re doing what day it is. He’ll be 21 in December.”
Regarding the severity of his son’s autism, Scholes explained that Aiden communicates solely through sounds that only his closest family members can understand. He also described how his son’s condition affected him throughout his football career.
He said: “He’d bite your arm or scratch you just out of frustration for him cos he didn’t understand things, couldn’t tell you how he was feeling. I never got a break from it, even when playing.
“It was very hard in those days, feels like it was years ago. I don’t think they [doctors] diagnosed it til they were 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.
“Then all of a sudden you start seeing everything, I don’t know if it just consciously happens, I don’t know. 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 [about the diagnosis]. I ended up telling them a few weeks later, I think as it was quite hard.”
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These days, Scholes has revealed that his professional life revolves around his son’s needs, abandoning commentary duties because Aiden becomes distressed when his daily routine is disrupted. He said: “Everything I’m going to do now just works around him, 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.”
This week’s Stick to Football podcast with Paul Scholes is available now on YouTube and all leading podcast platforms.
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