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Paul Scholes has opened up on his family life, revealing that he gave up doing commentary work in order to spend more time with his autistic son. The Manchester United legend has taken a step back from media work so he can prioritise Aiden, who has special needs. Scholes is a hero at United, where he made over 700 appearances and won 25 trophies as a midfielder between 1993 and 2013. His exceptional playing career and one-club status with his boyhood team makes him an authoritative voice on United , yet he has decided to reduce the amount of work he does. Last season, the 50-year-old was a regular pundit for TNT Sports on their coverage of United in the Europa League . But Scholes realised that his work schedule was having a negative impact on 20-year-old Aiden, who he sees three times per week. He shares Aiden and two other children with his former wife Claire, and speaking on the Stick to Football podcast , Scholes explained how he balances his work life with caring for his son. "All the work I do now is just around his routines because he has quite a strict routine every single day," he said. "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 daycare and we go swimming. [He] loves swimming then we get his pizza on the way home. Thursday [I] 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.” Scholes has posted about Aiden on Instagram and has been encouraged to share his story after receiving positive feedback from other parents how have autistic children. “Well, he’s non-verbal so he can’t speak," he said. "When I say he can’t speak, I think he understands a lot more than we think. He has sounds but it’s only people that are close to him that will know what he’s saying. He has autism, but it’s like a really severe autism – because you can have it and go to school normally and such. "I did it [sharing on social media] one or two times and I only showed the good bits, there’s obviously some that aren’t great. And it was just the response he had from people, you know parents, the amount of people saying 'god that helps, we’ve got a kid that’s the same' or something like that. That’s why I carried on doing it. He added: "I will reply to people on Instagram, because it’s hard, especially when they’re young because there’s the harm and attacking people and I only put the nice stuff on. I do think about putting the stuff on when he’s not too happy when he might try and bite or scratch. But then I think it’s probably not the right thing to do.” Scholes used to come into training with United with scratches and bite marks on him. Aiden was diagnosed with autism at the age of two and a half and the midfielder initially didn't tell his team-mates or manager Sir Alex Ferguson what was going on at home, despite it affecting his performances. “We didn’t know what was in store for us," he said of the diagnosis. "There’s some kids who don’t speak at one and a half, two years of age, then at five or six, bang they’re speaking they call it a late development stage. But we just knew it was never going to be like that. "I didn’t speak to anyone at the club about it. 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. I don’t know what would help me. "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. There are times when it’s not in your head, it’s like anything, then there’s times like now when you do start speaking about it, it’s at the front of your mind.” This week’s Stick to Football podcast with Paul Scholes is available now on YouTube and all leading podcast platforms Join our new MAN UTD WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Manchester United content from Mirror Football. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
