Today, Amy Schumer joined Ellen DeGeneres to say goodbye to the long-running daytime talk show host, and shared details about her husband’s recent diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder to the TV audience.
Schumer shared that her husband Chris Fischer has been diagnosed with ASD, and she said it’s a super-powerful diagnosis of sorts. For example, “If somebody is telling a long boring story, he will straight up walk away. He’ll just wander away and I’m still stuck there like ‘Mmmhmm, mmhmm.'”
She also noted that people still don’t know much about autism, and she hit the nail on the head.
“They’re just like, ‘Oh does he love to count, you know…should we drop a bunch of straws on the floor and he can count them?'”
Fischer knew that he was on the spectrum prior to his diagnosis, but an online test helped him find precisely where he was on that spectrum. It also made it easier for him to go through life knowing that his behaviors were honest and genuine to himself.
The official diagnosis came years into their marriage, and Schumer notes that some of her favorite people are on the spectrum — one being her husband, whom she maintains that she adores.
DeGeneres added that people diagnosed with ASD have such beautiful and honest behaviors and agreed that some of her favorite people on the spectrum too. Some of the aspects of their personalities are different, and while Schumer noted that sometimes that could upset people, it’s simply that their brains have different chemistry.
While there are five primary types of Autism, the spectrum is a wide range that people exist on. Understanding an ASD diagnosis could mean the difference between someone finding acceptance and someone being left on the outskirts.
The levels of an autism diagnosis are so varied that it can be hard to pinpoint where someone is on the spectrum without the proper testing and therapies performed. Still, as Schumer and Degeneres note, it’s essential to understand and accept people with a diagnosis of any kind.
Schumer laughed and said that people diagnosed with ASD “like to count, but there’s a depth that is often unexplored. It’s not just counting and tics; it’s not always sunshine and rainbows either.”
You can find out more about Autism Spectrum Disorder at the CDC’s website page on ASD.
