Amy Schumer on Husband’s Autism Diagnosis

Comedy star Amy Schumer is opening up about why she revealed her husband’s autism on her new Netflix special, saying the couple hopes this encourages people concerned about stigma to seek diagnosis.

She said, “There are a lot of people with autism who go undiagnosed when I think their life could be better if they got those tools.”

First, I think it’s amazing when autism makes the national news. And I don’t mean just CNN. I mean mainstream media. This story is all over the news and social media. I’ve seen it on People, Entertainment Tonight, even MTV. So that is fantastic.

Autism in the news is a good thing.

A famous celebrity talking about autism is a good thing.

“We both wanted to talk about it because it’s been totally positive” for her and chef and cookbook author Chris Fischer’s 13-month marriage, Schumer, 37, said Wednesday night on NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers.” “I think a lot of people resist getting diagnosed, and even [resisting doing so] with some of their children, because of the stigma that comes along with it. But you’re not just diagnosed and then they throw you out,” she assured, adding, “The tools that we’ve been given have made his life so much better and our marriage and our life more manageable.”

Second, people are talking about autism in a positive, real way. Yay.

So many times the word autism is in the news for one of two reasons. Something bad happened.

Or, a person with autism got invited to prom by the head cheerleader. I say that second one somewhat jokingly. But really…it’s true.

Those feel good stories seem to make the news all the time. And in actuality, they sorta make me sad. Those stories don’t seem to do anything for kids like mine. They also seem to set a fake example of what autism is for people that know nothing about it.

I can’t tell you how many people tell me to watch The Good Doctor. And honestly, I can’t. While I’m sure it’s a great show, it’s not our autism. Not the one we live every single day.

 

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Thanks for a great time tonight DC photo by @marcusrussellprice dress by @lecloudclothing

A post shared by @ amyschumer on Dec 15, 2018 at 9:46pm PST

Third, when stories like this one come out, I always want to follow up with…autism is a spectrum. And no two people on the spectrum are the same. Amy’s husband Chris is clearly a great, successful guy. And good for him. But let’s not forget the some people on the spectrum have way more challenges.

“I knew from the beginning that my husband’s brain was a little different than mine. … I really want to get this right, because I love him very much.”

Thank you Amy and Chris for talking about autism. You are making a huge difference for families like mine.

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Editor’s Note: Featured image provided by Getty Images for Tony Awards Pro.