James McClean reveals that he has autism in heartwarming Instagram post

"I see so many small traits in her that I see in myself."

The Republic of Ireland star has talked before about autism as his daughter was diagnosed with it early in her life.

As McClean and his wife, Erin, learned more and more about the condition and trying to understand it better, the more the Derry native related to it.

With it being Autism Awareness Week, the Wigan winger posted a lovely message on Instagram as he decided to go public with the news that he too has autism.

"The more Erin and I learned about autism the more we began to recognise I was very similar to Willow in more ways than we thought.

"I see so many small traits in her that I see in myself. So I decided to go and get an ASD assessment.

"It’s been a bit of a journey and now having a diagnosis I feel it’s time to share it, for the week that’s in it.

"I have debated for a while going public in sharing this as I’ve done this for Willow-Ivy, to let her know that I understand and that being autistic wont and should never hold her back from reaching her goals and dreams.

"Daddy’s girl."

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