When it comes to getting diagnosed, Amy Schumer wants everyone to resist the stigma.
The expectant comedian recently opened up about her husband Chris Fischer‘s autism diagnosis in her newly released Netflix special, Amy Schumer Growing. “My husband was diagnosed with what used to be called Asperger’s. He has autism spectrum disorder. He’s on the spectrum,” Schumer told her audience during the show.
Sitting down with Seth Meyers on Wednesday night, the Golden Globe nominee explained why she and her man decided to share that part of their personal life with the public.
“That’s why we both wanted to talk about it because it’s been totally positive,” she told the Late Night host. “I think a lot of people resist getting diagnosed and even with some of their children because of the stigma that comes along with it, but you’re not just diagnosed and then they throw you out. Hopefully, if you can get help, the tools that we’ve been given have made his life so much better and our marriage and our life more manageable and so, I just wanted to encourage people to not be afraid of that stigma.”
As she continued, “I think there are a lot of people with autism who go undiagnosed when I think their life could be better if they got those tools.”
However, she clarified that not all diagnoses are the same. “His life and his trajectory—that’s not like everybody on the spectrum, but that’s our story. He’s an amazing guy,” Schumer complimented. “I don’t want to make it sound like, ‘I’m so nice that I married someone with autism,'” she joked. “I fell in love with him and I wouldn’t trade him in for anybody.”
The two, who surprised fans when they unexpectedly wed a year ago in February, recently celebrated their first anniversary and are expecting their first child together. While they know what they’re having, in Schumer’s words, “we don’t care.”
“However the baby identifies, as long as they don’t identify as a DJ,” she told Meyers. “Because that’s disgusting.”