Scholes previously opened up with the challenges of having an autistic child on a BBC documentary in 2021, which was hosted by Paddy McGuinness, who has three autistic children himself. “For those first few years of being diagnosed you think he’s just delayed, eventually he’ll start talking,” Scholes told McGuinness.
“When you get to 12, 13, 14… now he’s 16 it’s never going to happen. He’s never going to be neurotypical, but he’s great and you have to accept it. I’ve never said this before. I’m looking at him thinking he might have to go into care. I just don’t know how you handle that.”
Scholes revealed that the initial diagnosis affected his performances on the pitch, adding: “We got the diagnosis. We were playing Derby away. I was terrible, absolutely shocking. I didn’t want to be there. Head was gone. I was worrying about autism, reading, trying to find out anything I could.”
The former United midfielder currently has a podcast – The Good, The Bad and The Football – alongside McGuinness and ex-teammate Nicky Butt.