Amy Schumer has revealed why she thinks her husband’s autism diagnosis is his superpower.
On Wednesday 20 April, the Life & Beth star appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show where she opened up about her husband Chris Fischer’s autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
“What happens when you get diagnosed with autism is it’s like getting a superpower. All of his behaviour is kind of excused now,” the 40-year-old comedian joked.
“If somebody’s telling a long, boring story, he will straight up just walk away,” Schumer explained as she mimicked her husband. “He’ll just wander away and I’m still stuck there.”
The Trainwreck star first revealed Fischer’s diagnosis in her 2019 Netflix special, Growing. Fischer, 42, was diagnosed with ASD as an adult after the two were married in February 2018. Schumer explained that her husband wasn’t aware of his autism, but after taking an online test, Fischer received an official diagnosis.
“It’s really given us so many helpful tools,” Schumer told DeGeneres. “I think it’s a good thing for people to check it out and get tested so you don’t spend your whole life feeling like you’re bad or wrong.”
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), autism is a broad range of conditions, caused by differences in the brain, that affects the way people behave, communicate, and learn. Austim affects an estimated one in 44 children in the US, and “can sometimes be detected at 18 months” or younger. By the age of two, a diagnosis by a professional can be “very reliable”. But, many children aren’t given a “final diagnosis” until they’re a lot older.
Schumer has previously spoken about the possibility of the couple’s two-year-old son, Gene, being diagnosed with autism as well. “I think the statistics are pretty strong toward he will most likely have autism,” she said on Chelsea Handler’s podcast, Dear Chelsea. “Parents have different journeys with this. Having a child with severe autism is beyond my imagination difficult.”
“But if Gene does wind up having ASD, I’m not looking for the signs in a way that is upsetting, I’m not hoping either way,” she added. “Most of my favourite people are on the spectrum.”
Schumer noted that even though her son may be a bit too young to get diagnosed, she “doesn’t have a preference” either way if he ever is on the spectrum.
“He’s two and a half and I think they don’t diagnose children until maybe six at the earliest I think,” she explained. “You can see some signs but the diagnosis doesn’t come until later and I can say honestly I don’t have a preference either way. You just want your kids to be healthy and happy.”
