Alicia Scholes, the daughter of former Manchester United and England legend Paul Scholes, has paid a heartfelt tribute to her loving father after he published a touching podcast about caring for his autistic son, the Daily Mail reported.
Scholes, 50, spoke candidly on Stick to Football about the challenges of raising his autistic and non-verbal son Aiden (Alicia's younger brother).
Eden was diagnosed with severe autism at the age of two-and-a-half, and Scholes shared how difficult it was to raise a neurodiverse child during a career as a top-level football player, admitting that he was terrified of what would happen to his son when he wasn't around to look after him.
Scholes has been particularly touched by the response from parents in similar situations, and now his daughter has shared her own touching tribute to her father.
Alicia, 24, is a very talented volleyball player in her own right and has been selected for the England national team and currently plays for the London Pulse
She wrote on Instagram: "God knows how hard that episode of the podcast was for you!!!! We love you so much."
She continued: "I have never met anyone who hates talking about themselves more than you. I can only imagine talking about Aiden and that extremely difficult period. How difficult the reality is for you. Your most important identity in my life is as a father, and I have realized from a young age how hard you have to work every day in addition to taking care of your children. It is simply unimaginable. "
"Everything you have achieved requires huge sacrifices, but you still send me to school every morning and stay with me after school. You are involved in every aspect of my life!" She shares photos of her glamorous life on Instagram, where she has more than 100,000 followers, but admits that having such a high public profile comes with its challenges, given her father's achievements.
Alicia continued: "I never thought that carrying your name would be the heaviest burden on my shoulders, but over time I am learning and hoping that this pressure will make me stronger. People who I have never met are all over Twitter writing about how much they hate me, or how rude I am, or how bad my attitude is, people who have never spoken to me and take it for granted. They thought I would be a certain way and hated me for some reason they made up."
"My mother heard the fans talking to each other at the game that I was only on the team because of my father and it had nothing to do with the hard work and dedication I put in."
"Everything I do receives more attention than others. The judging standards are ten times stricter than others, and the criticism is ten times more. I have to perform beyond expectations to receive recognition or praise, because my standards are naturally much higher, and every success or achievement will be compared to an impossible standard. "
"Living with unauthorized attention from an early age can have an impact on people. It is not normal to live in a world where everyone's opinion of you is based on something that has nothing to do with who you are or what you have done. "
"No one teaches you to grow up in the spotlight, and it took me a long time to realize that, but when I look at you again, not only are you everything I want to be as an athlete, but your character and the way you conduct yourself are admirable."
Scholes, 50, took to Instagram to express how deeply touched he was by the response to parents who had similar experiences.
"We would always do the same thing with him because he didn't know what day it was or what time it was. But he would know what day it was from what we were doing," Scholes said.
Scholes added that while the first few years after Aiden's diagnosis were difficult, he now finds great joy in his son's happiness.
"Don't get me wrong, he was a little overjoyed and it does bring you great happiness and joy, and it's not all bad," Scholes said.