How Joel McHale Is Raising His 19-Year-Old Son on the Autism Spectrum

Joel McHale is sharing a look inside his greatest role of all – fatherhood.

In a candid interview during the Sunday, February 25, episode of the Getting Grilled with Curtis Stone podcast, the Community star detailed the relationship he has with his oldest son, Edward, who is on the autism spectrum.

“He’ll be the first to tell you that,” McHale, 52, shared when explaining Edward’s diagnosis. “And then he would walk up to you and go, ‘Tell me about a time you got hurt.’ And then wait for your answer.”

While McHale is unsure if his son will head to college, he’s confident Edward, 19, will find joy by following his passions.

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“We’re not sure what his trajectory is, but he loves video games, and he’s good at them,” he explained. “So I think he might just skip college. I’m like, ‘Go ahead. Just start work. Just learn that C++ language and start writing video games. Great.'”

McHale, who is also raising son Isaac, 15, with wife Sarah Williams, added that both of his kids have inherited his dry sense of humor. As a result, dinner discussions are filled with humor.

“They’re both extremely sarcastic and make fun of me,” McHale said. “When we say grace when we have dinner, Eddie will go, ‘God is great and Joel is not.’ Isaac will be like, ‘Hey dad, when are you going to be relevant again? Do you think people will like you again at some point?’ Yeah, there’s a lot of that.”

In an exclusive interview with Us Weekly in November 2023, McHale also proved his sons have jokes when recalling the various times he checks the mail.

“My youngest son on my Amazon account had changed my name to ‘You Piece of S–t,’” he revealed. “So, all the packages that come are just like, ‘You Piece of S–t,’ and then our address.”

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All jokes aside, McHale admits that fatherhood is the “greatest thing that’s ever happened.” But as their kids continue to grow into young adults, both McHale and Williams are trying to follow one simple rule.

“There’s no other choice other than to just love that kid and see what he wants to do,” McHale explained to Curtis Stone. “Life throws you all sorts of things and the journey with the kids has not been a traditional one, because everyone else around us is doing more typical things. And I’m like, ‘Hey. It’s all good. Let’s see what happens.'”

There is one piece of advice McHale received from his own father that he won’t soon forget. In a recent chat with Us, The Soup alum recalled the wise reminder that no parent is perfect.

“He just looked at me and smiled and he went, ‘You’re in for it now,’” McHale recalled. “This is going to be so sincere. Love them and love them and love them. You’re going to screw it up, but just love them as much as you possibly can. You’re going to screw it up, and then you’re probably going to do a lot of things right.”