John Tavolta's son Jett dies at age 16

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gitana1 said:
Bolded by me.

Apparently, they did. From what I have read, Jett was mentally disabled - something that does not come from Kawasaki disease which is an illness that is treated and goes away in a few weeks. He had that at age 2 or so, so unless he had residual heart defects from the illness, it is not something he would have suffered from the rest of his life and it DOES NOT cause mental disability. Apparently Jett was non-verbal. That and videos and photos I have seen of him suggest low-functioning autism - he is photographed toe-walking at age 16, which is a symptom, and stimming (flapping hands and rocking), which you can see briefly in the trip to paris video. He stares curiously at the cameras and someone is holding on to him and directing his every moment. People with low-functioning autism are prone to wandering and getting freaked out by noise, lights and lots of activity. Importantly, seizures are very common in a significant portion of people with autism.
Whether or not the Travoltas recognized that their son had autsim (if, in fact, he did), or whether or not they treated him specifically for that, I think it is clear they were good, loving parents. He was NOT left alone ever, according to news reports, he had a nanny who had a baby monitor so she could hear him in his room at night and there was a door alarm, possibly so he would not wander.
I don't know all the treatments used ot help their child but it seems they did detoxification therapy which is coincidentally something widely used with varying rates of success with kids who have autism. I have read that Jett was on Depakote for several years but it began to lose effectiveness so they discontinued its usage. Depakote is used for seizures, among other things so if true, that belies the claims that the Travoltas put faith over medicine. I am sure these people did the best they could with a hard situation. I am deeply saddened by their loss and wish them peace.
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Great post Gitana! Very informative. Thank you for those of us who are "ignorant", like myself about this condition.
 
MeoW333 said:
ps- i toe walk all the time, and it's a lot quieter that way.
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O/T. ME TOO! I've done it my whole life. Also, my toes "crack" and always have. It would wake up my parents when I was little and would get up at night and sneak around the house. :crazy:
 
His heart is broken. Such a sweet man (from what I know about him). I hope the pain for him and his family will get better soon.
 
I have been keeping this family in my heart and prayers since the news, as a mother, I only THINK I know the pain one feels to lose a child. No one can truly know, who has not been there, but I do know a parent's love. So it broke my heart to hear of Jett's passing. I hope the Travoltas are able to relax and at least get their mind off of their heartbreak for even a short moment here or there- I am sure their pain is indescribable.

I really feel awful for them, no parent should ever have to go through this. :(
 
Oh, as far as the education/schooling Jett had, or what doctor treatments the Travoltas tried...etc....they are public figures and while I think it's as much fair game to speculate about them as it is about any other public figure or celebrity, I do think we don't know the facts- it's just rumor and speculation, often clouded by people's opinions of Scientology. I don't know why I feel the need to even bring it up, just wanted to say that it must make dealing with the loss of a child that much worse because I am SURE the Travoltas, and others who lose a child this way, are already second guessing if there was anything they could have done differently that would have changed the circumstances. :( I realize people are going to speculate and discuss in a forum, just wanted to put my 2 cents in. I don't have a favorable impression of Scientology but I don't think for one minute the Travoltas would not put their son first.
 
southcitymom said:
I have, in the past, heard Travolta and Preston lambasted for denying Jett had an issue. This document reveals Travolta telling medical responders of his son's autism. I just thought that was interesting: http://www.nationalenquirer.com/bom..._police_report_son_jett_death/celebrity/66807
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I didn't read the article, but I wanted to say, even if Jett had autism, it's very possible the Travolta's were not trying to hide anything due to their religious beliefs, but some of their "not knowing" could be because of differing medical diagnoses over the years. I know people who only recently got diagnoses with Asperger's (for example) when their children were as old as 12 or 13 (recently). It's another one of those medical issues that had to be brought out of the darkness and into the light.

(I'm not disagreeing with you SCM, I've been thinking about Jett a lot lately and the controversy surrounding their religion and Jett's passing.)
:blowkiss:

PS- I did see the part where Autism is mentioned in the report at the link- I didn't read the rest of the article.
 
Boyz_Mum said:
I didn't read the article, but I wanted to say, even if Jett had autism, it's very possible the Travolta's were not trying to hide anything due to their religious beliefs, but some of their "not knowing" could be because of differing medical diagnoses over the years. I know people who only recently got diagnoses with Asperger's (for example) when their children were as old as 12 or 13 (recently). It's another one of those medical issues that had to be brought out of the darkness and into the light.

(I'm not disagreeing with you SCM, I've been thinking about Jett a lot lately and the controversy surrounding their religion and Jett's passing.)
:blowkiss:

PS- I did see the part where Autism is mentioned in the report at the link- I didn't read the rest of the article.
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You make good points, Boyz_Mum. I think John and Kelly were good loving parents - I don't they looked the other way about anything, though you may be correct that a diagnosis was made in later life with Jett.
 
southcitymom said:
You make good points, Boyz_Mum. I think John and Kelly were good loving parents - I don't they looked the other way about anything, though you may be correct that a diagnosis was made in later life with Jett.
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Thanks SCM, I do realize that in this life, we think that people with lots of money have more rights as patients, but the truth is that when any of us go to the doctor, we have to say "What's wrong?" and sometimes they get it right the first time and sometimes... we wait years and a million dollars later for the right diagnosis.

After getting a few different diagnoses, who knows which one is right?
 
Boyz_Mum said:
Thanks SCM, I do realize that in this life, we think that people with lots of money have more rights as patients, but the truth is that when any of us go to the doctor, we have to say "What's wrong?" and sometimes they get it right the first time and sometimes... we wait years and a million dollars later for the right diagnosis.

After getting a few different diagnoses, who knows which one is right?
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I couldn't agree with you more. I mainly threw the article out there because of the gossip that they denied Jett's condition due to Scientology. I just never bought that, you know?

Also, I am not of the opinion that they had any obligation (due to their high-profile status) to share any of Jett's medical stuff publicly.
 
southcitymom said:
I couldn't agree with you more. I mainly threw the article out there because of the gossip that they denied Jett's condition due to Scientology. I just never bought that, you know?

Also, I am not of the opinion that they had any obligation (due to their high-profile status) to share any of Jett's medical stuff publicly.
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I love the Enquirer, and I'll read the article later (I have the issue here, I think.)

Thank you for putting the article out here.

There are people that I am sure put their religious beliefs before anything a doctor could tell them, but I am not so sure that this family is like that. They may seem progressive as far as their religious beliefs are concerned, but they are "stuck" in the same medical stuff that the rest of us are. (JMO)
 
I'm a skeptical/cynical/jaded as they come, and I honestly believe this poor child died as a result of his seizure disorder. I don't think any religion/belief system or medical treatment would have altered the final outcome.

I don't know much about seizure disorders, but I do know that the brain and body can handle only so much seizure activity before it can no longer function.

I have a close friend whose cousin lost her daughter shortly before Jett Travolta died. The cousin's daughter was 40, and my friend remarked that it was miraculous that she lived that long. She wasn't initially expected to survive her teens.

FWIW, I think the parents did everything they could reasonably do, and that the rest of the world should just back up off them and let them come to terms with his passing.
 
Personally, I think EVERYONE should ban the National Enquirer. Period. That rag mag is nothing but a gossip-for-profit. Let's not forget how they blasted out about Elizabeth Glasser's child having HIV and life was miserable for her family. I remember in reading her book of the entire ordeal of her sweet angel, including her passing, that the one thing that Elizabeth asked if anyone could do as a favor...was to not support a "magazine" like the Ntl. Enquirer.

Also, John and Kelly had a very good reason to not disclose their child's autism. Think about it. If you were in the limelight as they are...would YOU want to disclose to the media of a vulnerable child? These people have paparazzi in their faces all the time, they get letters from obsessed fans, they have stalkers, etc. I support the fact 100% that they chose to keep their children and their children's needs out of the "need to know" public arena.

And now this rag mag has the nerve to publish the most heartwrenching and final moments of a family's child? How dare they. This is appalling. DO NOT BUY IT. Do it in remembrance of Jett and the trauma his parents are still suffering with the loss of their loved child.
 
Its in poor taste to publish the details around this boys last moments. I frankly dont care if they knew or didnt know. IMO these are private family issues as whether was diagnosed and if so when. He didnt seek out fame andpublicity .. hs parents did. The kids should be off limits. What I do see here is 2 obviously very loving caring parents who are just devastaed with the loss of their son who are struggling with their grief. So different than the bulk of the stories we read here abour chidren who are not cared for or who suffer and die at the hands of those who call them selves parents..
 
I just wanted to stop by the thread and let anyone interested know that while I was waiting for an appointment, I picked up a magazine in the lobby.

In that magazine (it was for parents of children with special needs) there was an article about Joey Travolta's film camp for children with the autism spectrum.

If anyone is interested in which magazine I will find out what it was for you.
 
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