Irish Nati star makes autism diagnosis public

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“It’s been a long road and now that I’ve been diagnosed it’s time to share it.” With these words, James McClean (33) makes his autism diagnosis public on his Instagram profile.

With the publication, the Irish international wants to help his daughter (4), who also has autism: “As you know, my daughter Willow-Ivy is autistic. The past four years have changed her life in amazing ways but have also made it very difficult for me as a father as I have had to watch her overcome so many obstacles in her life and learn how to deal with the challenges she faces every day. “

Common ground with daughter leads to investigation

Because of his daughter’s illness, he and his wife did a lot of research into autism, which led to the suspicion that he himself had the disease: “I realized that in many ways I am more like Willow-Ivy than we thought. I see so much little traits in her that I also see in myself.” So he decided to submit to an investigation. Also here the diagnosis: autism.

“I’ve thought about making this public for a while because I did it for Willow-Ivy to let her know that I understand her and that autism will not and should not prevent her from achieving her goals and dreams.” His emotional statement is well received in the sports world: the post has already been liked more than 30,000 times on Instagram.

James McClean is currently under contract with the English second division club Wigan. He played 96 international matches for the Irish national team and scored 11 goals. His illness was never an obstacle for him. (byl)

Source : Blick