Paul Scholes has thanked the outpouring of support he received after opening up about caring for his autistic and non-verbal son Aiden. The former Manchester United star spoke candidly about his son’s condition on a recent episode of the Stick to Football podcast, alongside former team-mates Gary Neville and Roy Keane.
In a heartfelt Instagram Story, Ms Scholes said: “I would like to thank everyone who has sent me kind messages since the Overlap interview about Aiden. I have had so many messages that I have tried to read as many as I can. The response from my family (especially my father) shows how much talking about this is helping so many people.”
“The words of a parent in a similar situation really stuck with me…’My job is to outlive my son and daughter.’ Anyway, it’s the weekend, so let’s have a few drinks and watch some football. Come on, Salford.”
In the podcast, Mr Scholes revealed how his son’s needs have changed his approach to work.
“Aiden helped me make the decision this year,” he said. “Obviously, as you may know, it’s because of his special needs. All the work I’m doing right now is around his routine.
“I decided everything I was going to do around Aiden because he has a pretty strict routine every day.
“Everything I’m going to do will work around him. I work in the studio, but everything is built around his day.
“Last season it was a Thursday night and I was playing Man Utd’s Europa League and that was always the night I was with him so he was really excited and was biting and scratching. He knew that pattern wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.”
“And I’ve been doing it for years, really, and I always thought I’m going to have to stop doing this at some point. Then I had the opportunity to do a podcast (‘The Good,’ ‘The Bad,’ ‘The Football’) and I thought that was a better fit for me. Well, not me, Aiden.”
Scholes also spoke about Aiden’s weekly routine after separating from his mother and wife of 26 years.
“Since I’m no longer with Claire, I leave him for three nights at a time, and Claire’s mother leaves him on Friday nights,” he explained.
“We do the same thing with him all the time. He doesn’t know what day it is or what day it is. But he knows what day it is from what we do.
“Every Tuesday I pick her up from daycare and go swimming. She loves swimming and we eat pizza on the way home.
“Thursday, I pick him up, go get something to eat and go home. Sunday, I pick him up from Clare’s house and we go to Tesco, where he buys a cart full of chocolates.”
“So he doesn’t know what day it is or what time it is, but he knows what it is from what we’re doing. He’ll be 21 in December.”
