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The Real Housewives of Orange County‘s Emily Simpson and husband Shane Simpson’s differing views on son Luke’s ARFID diagnosis are already causing major friction in their marriage.Â
The RHOC couple instantly started bickering about a car vent in Season 19, Episode 2, before Emily ventured into much more serious territory. As they drove, she debriefed Shane on how she had just mentioned to Luke’s therapist that he had “declined over the last week or so.”
Shane, on the other hand, wasn’t so keen on describing their 10-year-old son as “declining for the rest of his life,” whenever he has an off day while navigating the eating disorder.
“I think my approach is a little bit more try to make it like it’s normal for Luke and it’s nothing that stands out or makes him lesser than or feel inferior,” Shane explained in a confessional. “But Emily just wants to flip a switch and fix it. And I know it doesn’t work that way.”
RELATED:Â Emily Simpson Sheds New Light on Son Luke’s Health Issues After Diagnosis: “What Do I Do?”
Separately, Emily told a producer, “Shane is a good man and he’s a good dad. But I have a son that’s in crisis, and it’s like we’re not even on the same page. And I just … feel alone in that.”
Emily Simpson details son Luke’s recent struggle in his ARFID journey
To illustrate their son’s “decline” to Shane, Emily revisited a recent movie theater outing, during which she ordered Luke some french fries. Instead of eating them, though, Emily described him using the flashlight on her phone to inspect each individual fry.
“As a mother, this decline breaks my heart,” she said, to which Shane responded, “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.”Â
To that, Emily answered, “Because I feel like it’s easy for you to just be like, ‘It’s just an isolated event. He’ll be fine.'”
RELATED:Â Emily Simpson Addresses Rumors She’s Divorcing Shane Simpson: “We’ve Had Challenging Things”
She went on to recall Luke also not wanting to go to school a couple weeks ago, detailing how she “had to dress him” herself and “hold his mouth open and brush his teeth for him.”Â
Perhaps proving her point on his differing perspective, Shane pointed out, “You gotta remember it happened once. This morning, he was fine.”
In the interim, Emily shared that she “reached out to an autism specialist” and that Luke would be undergoing “intensive testing” for autism spectrum disorder.
“It is a daily struggle,” she added in a confessional. “I have no idea what I’m 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 know what to do.”
As Shane put it to her, “You know, label it what you want. We’re gonna get more information about how he operates and then we’re gonna be able to improve his daily living that way.”
Are Emily Simpson and Shane Simpson still together now?
Though the RHOC Season 19 trailer teased Emily tearfully worrying that she and Shane are going to “end up divorced,” they are still together today.
“We’re not getting a divorce,” she recently revealed on Access Hollywood’s Housewives Nightcap podcast. “We’ve had challenging things. We’ve been married almost 17 years now.”
She did admit, however, that filming RHOC as they navigated the issue was “very brutal” on their marriage, adding, “We weren’t on the same page. We were parenting differently.”
Get more details on the current status of Emily and Shane’s relationship here.
