Is John Travolta’s son autistic? Why does it matter?
June 1, 2007 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
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.
No matter what his diagnosis is I too hope that they are not allowing their religous beliefs from getting him the help and support that he needs. The idea that people choose to have any sort of mental illness is so hard for me to grasp. I have asked people many times would you choose to have that in your life. The answer is always no but they do. They do not choose it no more than my daughter chooses to have the sensory and social difficulties associated with her autism. To think all she has to do is want it less and pray more. If it were only that simple.
I Peeked at Rob Corddry – he is a ‘comedian’.
Cheers
My religious beliefs tell me that Elron H’s followers are the ministers of Satan.
I know that sounds a bit extreme, but I am a bit of a “black and white” thinker so it seems.
Whenever I walk past there headquarters in Tottenham Court Road I will tell everyone in ear shot that they are the agents of Satan to be avoided at all costs.
I think that Rob Corddry hates autism in the same way that Steven Colbert supports George Bush.
If you check out the non-tongue-in-cheek version (http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_5854406), it sounds like what they are raising money for is exactly the sort of program we would all support.
I read an article about a year ago suggesting that John Travolta’s wife, Kelly Preston, wanted to seek services for their son and JT said no — leading to marital problems. It always makes me sad when I celebrity misses the opportunity to do something positive, not only for their own kid but for the rest of the world by example.
Thanks for the link VAB—sound bytes can say more than one might wish.
Love to weigh in here as my sister and her husband are Scientologists. Yeah, it is a bit strange to me but then so are some other religions, too. That said, however, I’ve been able to have some interesting conversations with my sister about Nik’s autism. When I first mentioned a behavioral psychologist, she nearly freaked. I explained to her that what a vast majority of people do is behaviorally-based and not necessarily pharmacologically-based (is that the right term?). In any event, after explaining about things like PECS and ABA and other non-pharma therapies/educational tools, my sister was singing a completely different tune and was very much in favor of what we are doing with Nik. (BTW, I am not at all denigrating anyone who uses any pharma-based anything for themselves or their kids; I feel it is a highly personal choice. We have not yet had to walk in those shoes so I am in no position to judge anyone.)
Ironically, my sister completely understands and accepts that Nik is on seizure meds. Apparently this is b/c there is incontrovertible evidence (EEG) of his seizures.
Still, I do have to wonder what sort of bizarre experience(s) LRH must have had to make psychology and psychiatry out to be the most evil thing on the planet. In all, though, I have to say my personal experience with the Scientologists I have met is that they are nice, respectful people who have certain beliefs but who have never tried to “recruit” me in any fashion. I don’t feel in the least personally threatened by the COS.
I’m with King Larry, here, on the evil nature of the $cientologists.
It is my earnest, honest, belief, that those people are just plain, well, bad.
(and crazy, too!)
Niksmom: Hubbard’s loathing of psychiatry/psychology is probably based on the “failure” of the psych community to accept the “insights” he had when he wrote Dianetics which was supposed to be a “revolution” in psychology.
The $cientology “scriptures” that claim the psychiatrists are part of an alien invasion force, on the other hand, are most likely science-fiction stories that Hubbard wrote but couldn’t sell.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of Scientologists will dive into denial about mental conditions with a neurological basis (Google “Jeremy Perkins” for a schizophrenic example). It is sad that Jett Travolta didn’t have therapy earlier, because adolescence is a particularly challenging period for kids with autism.
Thanks for sharing about your Niksmom—-have you ever asked her how she might deal with having a child on the spectrum?
Yep, it’s relatively well-known – in the Hollywood gossip circles, that is
– that JT’s kid is autistic. They deny the diagnosis, call it Kawasaki’s, and give him no treatment b/c autism is considered a psychological disorder. In the world of $cientology, psychological disorders are MORAL failures (read: thetan-overload), and admission of them would bring a lot of shame upon the family. I’m with Larry King, too – the “religion” does some really messed-up things to its adherents.
I’ve thought about it but wouldn’t find it too helpful; my sister doesn’t have and never wanted kids. Her answer would be based purely on the theoretical/speculative. Her husband, on the other hand, has two grown children and a grandchild (slightly older than Nik). He comes from a very close-knit family and is a great father. He also happens to think Nik is pretty amazing.
(What can I say, he’s right!)
Niksdad and I were discussing this over dinner and wondered if the COS teachings would prevail over his (my BIL) upbringing. Raises an interesting question, I think. If one has not been raised with the current beliefs but has converted (for lack of a better term), where and how does one draw the line in a situation such as this? Does it depend on how long ago one was indoctrinated?
My sister and BIL will actually be visiting from the opposite coast next week; if I have an opportunity to raise the question I certainly will. You can be certain I will share the answer.
When Kelsey Grammer starred on “Fraser,” most of his former “Cheers” co-stars made guest-appearances on the show just for fun.
Kirstie Alley refused to guest-star on “Fraser” because she’s a Scientologist who hates psychiatrists…..and Kelsey played a lovable shink!
It’s been said countless times that Hubbard was crazy and took out his anger on psychiatrists. He was also a science fiction writer who created “Zenu” and the evil pods which are supposed to be in everyone’s brain.
However, if you give the Church of Scientology $200,000, they will “clear” your brain of those pesky pods!
I looked up Kawasaki disease. From the research I found, it strikes kids under age 5 in most cases and it is curable. If caught early, there are no long lasting effects. Further, the symptoms of it are nothing like Autism. I suppose only the few people who have seen/interacted with Jett Travolta would know for sure, but I can’t see the Travoltas leaving Kawasaki disease untreated for 10-15 years if it’s curable. This is very strange– I don’t know what to think.
It is amazing to me how two successful otherwise seemingly intelligent people can be so steeped in any “religion” or whatever you wish to call Scientology that they have missed some very important years of early intervention on behalf of their son Jett. Parents are the only advoctaes of children with pervassive developmental delays such as Jett clearly displays in looks and stature. I speak from my heart since my grandson has Potski Lupski (sp)Syndrome along with a diagnosis of autism. My daughter in law and son have spent their lives for the past five years teaching their son the very things we take fro granted like creating PEGS a (non-verbal) system so that Jakob can communicate his needs and wants to them without the frustration that comes from not being able to express oneself. They have spent countless hours teaching his big sister Kaitlin how to help them to look after Jabob’s needs and how to communicate with him. They are a solid, loving family and have given their child every opportunity to be the very best he can be whatever that is. I feel very bad that Jetts parents who have all the resources available to them in the world through denial have failed their son so tragically. There is nothing wrong with just loving your child and hoping and praying that things will turn around if you have no other means but these two certainly can afford therapies that will enable Jett to possibly handle his autism enough to live imdependently one day.
If in fact Jett is autistic, which it seems he is….I think it’s ridiculous that John Travolta, denies it. Not that John T, needs to talk about it on the tabloids, but just admit it and get Jett the proper help needed. Stop hiding behind that pathetic Ron Hubbard and strange Scientology beliefs. Get a life, aside from acting, Mr and Mrs Travolta!!
Sad news.
Jett Travolta has died of a seizure during a vacation with his family.
R.I.P. Jett
Now that I’ve just seen that John Travolta’s son has just died today (Person who wrote John Trovolat died,needs to stop posting, it was his sone!) of supposedly seizures and a fall, this link came up about him being autistic. PLEASE NOTE THAT AUTISM IS NOT A MENTAL ILLNESS, at least not in the way that all of the responders are speaking of and in the way refered to by scientology in this article. Autism is classified similar to other PHYSICAL diagnosis brain problems such as the mentally challenged (used to be called retarded), Mongolism, etc. There is a phycial cause, but autistic children can be taught to advance and have skills, they just learn in a different way. Autistic children are never medicated, it’s sad that some parents allow doctors to do this, unless they have a multiple diagnosis that warrants this. Some mental illness, such as bi-polar medication does help, but it still comes from a physical problem not a physological mental illness. Autism is so far removed from what you would call a mental illness it bothers me very much that people speak of things with such ignorance. If, you can ‘will’ yourself to be cured of a mental illness, it could only be those that stem from an emotionally charged mental illness such as a phobia, like fear of clowns. You can no more will yourself to not be autistic as you can will yourself to not be blonde head and blue-eyed. But, again, there are teaching techniques that allow these children to come out into the real world and behave and learn much like others now. Why do I know? My husband was bi-polar, and my nephew is autistic, and my niece has epilepsy. Even the author needs to get more knowledge before making opinions on sensitive subjects.
Excuse my error, the poster did say Jett Travolta, not John. My error as most articles are stating, John Travolta’s son, as most don’t know who Jett is. Sorry—
Bless his heart. Autism is frequently accompanied by epilepsy. I wonder if had they gotten him treatment..it’s just sad.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I was remiss in not expressing my grief for the family. Let’s hope that this can result in some progress in Autism Awareness!
What does autism have to do with mental illness?????? Thats like saying a person with downs syndrome has a mental illness.
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.
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…
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.
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.
Autism isn’t actually a condition, per se, it’s a general term used to covered a a range of developmental problems in children.