Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes has been flooded with messages after he shared a video on social media of himself teaching his autistic son Aiden.
Paul Scholes has been flooded with messages of support after posting a heartwarming video of him teaching his son.
The former Manchester United midfielder revealed last month that he had stepped back from his job as a pundit to attend to the needs of his autistic son Aiden. The 50-year-old explained that he couldn’t afford to disrupt the carefully structured routine he shares with ex-wife Claire. The routine was for the pair to each look after Aiden, 20, three nights a week, with Claire’s mother looking after him on the seventh night.
“Everything I’m going to do is going to work around him,” he said during an appearance on the “Stick to Football” podcast. “I work in the studio and everything is built around his day. Last season we used to play Manchester United’s Europa League on Thursday nights.
“That night was the night I usually had him, so he was very excited and was biting and scratching. He knew that pattern wasn’t going to emerge right away.”
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Mr Scholes initially kept his son’s condition private throughout his playing days, but confessed earlier this month how overwhelmed he was by the reaction to his disclosure. “I was really surprised by the reaction. I actually don’t know how it happened,” he said.
“I just went in there and I thought we were just going to talk about football, but I ended up talking about Aiden for 20 or 30 minutes. By the time the episode came out, I had forgotten what I was really talking about, but the response to it was incredible.”
Former England international Scholes has received further support after sharing a video of himself interacting with Aiden on Instagram, asking him to identify different animals and colors. The former midfielder wrote alongside the video, “Always learning from my smart son.”
Paddy McGuinness commented: “Beautiful to see,” while another user said: “It’s really great that opening up about this part of your life gives you hope, creates awareness and shows children that they can live a full, high quality life no matter the circumstances. Thank you.”
Another responded: “Yes, Aidan!!! You have no idea how much these videos will help people. You’re amazing, Paul.”
Meanwhile, a touching message read: “Paul, thank you for what you’re doing and for sharing this journey with us. Our journey with a non-verbal son has just begun and you’ll never understand how much it’s helping us all.”
Scholes retired in 2013, and after Scholes appeared on Stick to Football, his daughter Alicia wrote an emotional message to her father. Posting on Instagram, she said: “God knows how hard that episode was!!!!!!!!!!! We love you so much.”
She added: “I don’t know anyone who hates talking about themselves as much as you do, and I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to talk about Aidy and the reality of a very difficult situation.
“Throughout my life, I grew up knowing that your priority was always my father and at the same time how hard you had to work every day, which I can’t even fathom.
“It takes so many sacrifices to accomplish all that you have done, yet somehow I still managed to get you to take me to school every morning and at the end of each day. So be present in every aspect of my life!”
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