Paul Scholes has opened up about the heart-wrenching reason why he called time on his punditry career. The ex-Manchester United midfielder used to be a regular on TNT Sports on Thursday night's during his former side's Europa League campaign. However, he's revealed that he stepped away from regular punditry duties in order to take better care of his non-verbal autistic son, Aiden.
Getty Images SportScholes stepped down from TNT role
Scholes has three children – Aaron, Alica and Aiden, who at 20 years of age, is the youngest. However, owing to Aiden's autism, Scholes made the decision to step away from his role with TNT Sports after United's European campaign.
As the former midfielder as absent on a Thursday night, it would leave Aiden agitated, so Scholes opted to do less punditry work with TNT Sports and has instead stepped up his appearances on the Overlap's Stick to Football podcast. Scholes took over the role vacated by former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher.
Scholes though has revealed that the new setup works better for him and his son, who he now spends more time with.
Advertisement'Everything I’m going to do now just works around him'
Speaking on Stick to Football, Scholes opened up on his son's condition, saying: "I made a decision this year because of Aiden, obviously due to his special needs you might know about.
"All the work I do now is just around his routines cos he has quite a strict routine every single day, so I just decided everything I’m going to do it is around Aiden. 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 Utd, 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."
Getty Images Entertainment'He’s great and you have to accept it'
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.
Scholes reveals he was dropped by Fergie
Scholes also revealed he was dropped by then United boss Sir Alex Ferguson while attempting to handle the situation privately. "I never got a break from it, even when playing – it was very hard in those days," Scholes added.
"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 manager dropped me the week after, and I hadn't told anyone. I ended up telling them a few weeks later, as it was quite hard.
"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."