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“RHOC”'s Emily Simpson Reveals She and Husband Shane Aren't on the 'Same Page' About Son's Autism Diagnosis
@Source: people.com
Emily Simpson is sharing about a difficult moment in her life.
On this week's episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County, the mom of three talks about how she's planning to get her son Luke, 10, tested for an autism diagnosis after struggling with his behavior. Simpson, who shares her twin sons Luke and Keller, as well as daughter Annabelle, 12, with her husband Shane, discusses how tough this experience has been while in the car with Shane.
“I did mention to the therapist Luke has declined over the last week or so,” Emily says as they drive away together in a car.
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“Because I took him to the movies the other night. So, I order him the French fries, then he turns the flashlight on, on my cellphone, and he picks up each French fry and he inspects it. And then I told her we reached out to an autism specialist, and that he is going to do the intensive testing. And I’ve mentioned to you before that I thought maybe he was autistic," she tells Shane.
In a confessional, Emily explains that it's been a "daily struggle" and that she feels like she doesn't know what she's doing.
"I don’t know if he should be in a different school? I don’t know if he should be in special classes? I don’t…I don’t…I don’t know anything," she says. "I don’t know what to do. I have to have meetings with his teachers. I don’t know.”
Back in the scene in the car, Emily says that as a mother, her son's decline breaks her heart.
“Yeah, I don’t know why you keep saying as a mother. I mean, I’m a parent, too. I don’t know what the difference is,” says Shane.
“Because I feel like it’s easy for you to just be like, ‘It’s just an isolated event. He’ll be fine,’ ” Emily replies.
“No, I know. We can’t just say he’s declining for the rest of his life,” says Shane.
Emily goes on to explain how a few weeks ago, she had to force her son to go to school after he refused to take his pajamas off.
“Well, I told her about how a couple of weeks ago he said he didn’t want to go to school, and then I physically had to dress him myself. I had to take his pajamas off. I had to put his pants on. I had to hold his mouth open and brush his teeth for him,” she remembers.
“You got to remember, it happened once. This morning he was fine,” Shane says.
In his confessional, Shane explains that he and Emily approach their son's situation differently, and notes that he just has his son's best interests at heart.
“I think my approach is a little bit more, to make it like it’s normal for Luke, and it’s nothing that stands out or makes him less than, or feel inferior. But Emily just wants to flip a switch and fix it. And I know it doesn’t work that way,” Shane says in his confessional.
Emily then explains in her confessional that she feels like she's not getting support from her husband.
“Shane is a good man and he’s a good dad, but I have a son that’s in crisis," she says. "And it’s like, we’re not even on the same page. And I just feel alone in that."
Simpson has previously shared that her son was diagnosed with ARFID, a mental health disorder in which someone avoids or restricts food intake.
“There were so many times when he would say he was starving… because he was starving. But he would refuse to eat," Simpson told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview. "And as a mom, that was so frustrating. I didn't know what to do because on one hand he's crying and telling me he's starving, and on the other hand, he refuses to eat anything that I offer."
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
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