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Does John Travolta’s 15-year-old son Jett have autism and not (as is claimed) Kawasaki’s syndrome? Today’s AOL entertainment news suggests that the actor’s Scientologist views are preventing him from admitting that his son is autistic. “In the Church of Scientology, people who are diagnosed with mental illnesses are said to be capable of curing themselves, as long as they focus harder on the church’s teachings,” AOL entertainment news notes.
Whatever Jett Travolta’s diagnosis, I hope he is getting the services and education he needs. And that, if the Travoltas’ son does indeed have autism, that other parents will not follow their example. The world is not yet safe and understanding about autism—-as the beating of 18-year-old Luke Hawthorn by two men on a bus on Monday afternoon in Perth sadly attests to, and as actor Rob Corddry telling autism to “‘suck it‘” does too—and being open and honest about a child having autism can make a big different in changing attitudes about autism.
So that’s why it matters.
My prayers go out to the Travolta family during this difficult time. However, I have to admit, I have been a long time fan of JT, however, am very disappointed that he had denied his childs right to a successful life due to autism. As a mother of an 8 year old son who suffers from Asbergers, a pervasive developmental disorder, and in the same family of autism, I could not imagine letting a church decide his fate. Without the proper medications, therapies, appropriate IEP’s at school, he would not have been able to make such good progress in life. I read somewhere there weren’t even that many pictures of JT’s son – what a shame, my entire life revolves around my son and his special needs due to autism , it’s too bad that the Travolta family doesn’t see it that way. Much better luck for his daughter.
I am so sad for the Travolta/Preston family. To lose a child has got to be the worst possible tragedy. I have to say though whether or not Jett had Autism is not what is first and foremost in my mind, when I saw reports that the last time he was seen was going into the bathroom on Thursday evening but not found until Friday morning, even if he had some other medical issue, why/how was he so unsupervised for so long? If it was a seizure and hit head and if someone had checked on him he might have been able to get help. My son has a seizure disorder, among other diagnoses, and if I don’t hear him coming out of the bathroom after 5-10 minutes I call after him to make sure he is okay. I may be hyper vigilent but I know that if he seizes it is me who is responsible to get him the fastest help possible.
Rest in Peace Jett – your short life has obviously had an impact on many and you will not be forgotten.
I also lost a son who had nueological problems. It hurts my soul knowing the pain this family is going through. For anyone to speculate on his Dx or what should have been done to Rx him is crazy. One thing I am sure of is Jett was loved and had the best care in the world. I am a big fan of JT
his work and charities.
My heart breaks for them…
Sad news, no doubt. I did not read all the above posts, but quite a few. Nowhere did I see the word “vaccines”. Is this an accurate reflection of the overall ignorance behind autism?
Let’s review. Within the first few years of life, a child is injected with 37 or so different vaccines containing the #2 neuro toxin on earth (mercury), among other insane goodies such as aluminum, antifreeze, formaldehyde, aborted human fetal cells, chick embryos, monkey kidney cells, fetal bovine serum, etc.. Check the CDC website if you question the above. Does anyone really believe that God intended for such madness. These baby immune systems are in a state of shock. The progression is Immune, Gastro, Detox, Neuro, with all children being impacted differently which is why we call it a Spectrum. When will we all wake up and realize that this epidemic is the result of a greedy pharmaceutical empire that controls everything.
Denial is not a river in Egypt. It is a reality within the minds of many.
What does autism have to do with mental illness?????? Thats like saying a person with downs syndrome has a mental illness.
I was remiss in not expressing my grief for the family. Let’s hope that this can result in some progress in Autism Awareness!
As a mother of an Autistic 8 yr. old boy, sensory cause IS NOT the whole picture. Autism is a neurological disorder! Granted, sensory and social impairment, and seizures are a big part of it, but let’s be honest…Autism is NEUROLOGICAL!!
Not treating the disorder b/c of religious beliefs was a tragedy in itself. Get real people, the Travoltas have denied this disorder for YEARS!
Now look what has happened… No shame in Autism, please let the rest of us try to find cure, not shove it under the rug. I am outraged, as I have gone broke trying every therapy I can find
! Scientology… what a joke.
Please Stop! Just because the Travolta’s didn’t call their son’s disease autism, doesn’t mean they were not getting him help! His parents have been vigilant about his organic diet, his removal from all environmental toxins, his medical treatment, his private teachers(they built a ‘toxin free’ school mostly for him), etc etc, would all help him with autism even if they werent calling it that. Plus, a severe case of Kawaski dz as a child (which he did have-he almost died in the hospital after many days with fever and symptoms they were trying to treat) could cause brain lesions and leave the behind the same symptoms as having austism. The doctors said he had Kawaski dz when he was in the hospital. Why does it need another diagnosis just because some of the symptoms are the same?? They have their own problems, they have been dealing with his treatment for many years. Just leave them alone. Why are there so many ‘mean’ people in this world that have to try and tear other people down when they are doing the best they know how? Everyone, just do your own best! There is no treatment that fits all of our kids the same. There are probably alot of austistic and ADHD symptoms out there that would end up cured if they followed the ‘diet and pure life’ of Jett Travolta. End of story.
Thoughts and Prayers to the Travolta family.
In my previous post I did not mean to imply that autism was a mental disorder. I truly believe that these disorders are physically tied to a malfunction of the brain. Sorry if anyone got offended. I have always loved John and to think that his religion kept him from getting Jett the help he needed is just sad.
As a mother of 3 healthy children and 2 healthy grandchildren, I would have done anything to help my children if they were sick(physically or mentally). To do less is not being a good parent.
To put your trust in a man’s writings(Scientology) is totally dumb. The only one that can heal is God. I believe doctors and medicine are not perfect, but nothing is. We are lucky to be living today in which there are so many medical breakthroughs. I believe a combination of medicine and vitamins and a healthy life style is the best solution. I have found the combination of both helped relieve me of 20 years of migraines. My heart goes out to the Travolta family. For their sake, I hope it is not proven that this was a “didn’t have to happen” tragedy.
We lived next door to a wonderfull family with an autistic son. Let me tell you, after viewing these wonderful neighbors for 25+ years, Jett Travolta is autistic. With considerable therapy, medication and love, my neighbor has lead the best life possible. If Jett was left untreated, his life was not what it could have been. After watching the sacrafices my neighbors went through to get help for their son, it is clear an investigation into the care of the Travolta’s autistic son is required.
My heart goes out to the John Travolta family as they just LOST their son, Jett. May God help them through this most difficult time.
I have a nephew who is 15 and has a more severe form of autism. This is a tremendous hardship on my brother as he is not able to have a “normal” life with his son.
Autism can be helped with many different types of therapy, including probiotics and nutrition. Lets pray that this tragedy brings about more awareness of autism and more research to help find a cure for it.
Based on the small excerpt I saw of him leaving the building as well, it appears that he had some characteristics as far as a small excerpt where he was handflapping, did not pick up on social cues of scooting over to let someone else climb in the vehicle, and gazing at cameras etc. The only relevance this has to his death is that If he indeed had autism and the parents could have been made aware that sometimes seizures can accompany autism or onset at puberty may have saved his life or at least alerted them to the likelyhood. I do not agree that it is our job to judge how they parent. I have a child with autism and have come to accept him and love him and could not imagine him as a different child, however, it seems that some people believe that this is easy and that finding treatment is easy. Not at all true, parents could find them self needing counseling after dealing with beuracracies, lack of funding and resources. If you don’t live in an urban area or a state which has services that are good or covered, you have to be a sleepless creature that does your own homework and bring it to the professionals and teach them so they can teach your child. We were fortunate to find a few professionals that went above and beyond and helped us, had it not been for them, he would never have gotten the minimal services he got. Prayer and some beloved kind professionals made the difference for our son. I pray for the Travolta family and hope that god gives them peace in the days, months, and yrs ahead.
Illinois mom
If Jett is indeed autistic, I hope that this boy’s death will trigger an investigation/inquest that will once and for all expose Scientology as dangerous and morally negligent.
As the mother of two girls (one with Kawasaki Disease, Mitochondrial Disease and Seizures, and one with Autism, Mitochondrial Disease and Seizures) my heart breaks for the Travoltas.
My hope and prayer is that people don’t start blaming the Travolta’s for their son’s death due to however they decided to treat (or not treat) his disorder(s).
It’s too soon to tell what exactly caused the seizure or the “sickness” he suffered from before he fell…so I just hope that they do find a cause and that people will surround this family with love as they grieve the loss of their son.
Two years ago, we lost a family member to a heart attack (his first heart attack was when he was 20). He was only 39 years old and the heart attack was due to long term damage resulting from a bout of Kawasaki’s Disease he had as a child that went untreated because there was no treatment at the time.
Also, please know that many children with Kawasaki’s Disease present with symptoms at different times and the symptoms are not always the same resulting in “A-Typical” KD. This often causes misdiagnosis in the beginning….and since it is VITAL to get these kids treated within the first 10 days of the onset of fever, there are many cases of kids being misdiagnosed, thus delaying vital treatment.
My daughter was one of those children who was misdiagnosed at first. Thank God she got a correct diagnosis on the 5th day of her fever.
It’s so important to spread awareness of this disease and to inform doctors as well whenever we have the opportunity to do so.
For more information on Kawasaki Disease, please visit http://www.kdfoundation.org or http://www.myspace.com/kawasakisdisease.
Please help spread awareness of KD.
JN
Though I grow weary these days of hearing other people’s opinions masked as news, I can’t help but offer my own thoughts on this matter. I have an 18 year old son with autism. I have cried outwardly and inwardly tonight at the news of Jett Travolta’s passing. Our special needs kids are indeed special. To be protected and challenged lovingly. I know of no “special” parents who do not do everything they think is best for their child, regardless of diagnosis. Give the Travolta’s a break, people. Extend some sort of understanding. And Godspeed, Jett.
The horrible tragedy that happened today brought new light to Jett’s hidden “condition”. I started doing some online digging to find photos, anything about Jett I could find, and as to why the Travoltas still deny anything is “wrong” with their son. Well, let’s see…I found video showing a blank eyed 15 year old Jett being ushered out by the shoulders of paid help from a restaurant and ushered into the car and buckled before his small 7 year old sister. He always has a very easy short buzz cut, known to be the haircut of choice for many Autistic families, super loose clothing, another no brainer, and obviously has a mental issue going on. I found photos of him with his hood on, in sun, his mom in summer attire, standing on his tippy toes. I found many family outings with the press where he is nowhere to be seen and many mentions that Scientology does not recognize Autism. I AM SICKENED. As a parent of a 15 year old Autistic son and 3 more children, two on the spectrum, I know a duck when I see a duck. I would bet my right arm that Jett had Autism..and I am utterly disgusted that John Travolta would deny his son the help out there, or allow his religion to get in the way of calling Autism, Autism. I have always loves John, no more. I am truly appalled.
How sad to learn that Jett Travolta has died. My grandson has asberger autism…there are many, many forms of autism and, from what I gather, the Travolta’s have denied that Jett has autism. At this point, it doesn’t matter whether he did or didn’t…we need to keep them in our prayers as John and Kelly and Jett’s sister, Bella, must be feeling just awful right now. My heart goes out to them.
It’s very sad to think that he was autistic and his parents wer hiding the fact. they talked a lot about their daughter as a little princess and were hoping for another child,a son, a prince . what was poor jett a piece of furniture?? their crazy religion should be outlawed.
I know very little about Autism, and the little I know about Scientology is that Tom Cruise, “The Goofnuts”, is a follower. There are odd balls associated with every religion/belief. This forum could be best used to express our heart felt sorrow and prayers for the family.