Friday, June 01, 2007

John Travolta Denies Child’s Disability

In the midst of his new movie, Hairspray, hitting theaters, John Travolta is fielding press for another very different reason. It seems the actor, 53, is in denial about his son’s disability.

Reportedly, Travolta and his wife, Kellly Preston, 44, are interested in having another child. The problem is that the Saturday Night Fever star won’t face the fact that his 15-year-old son Jett is autistic. When interviewing the star, one journalist observed, “Travolta sits there in interviews talking about how Jett loves to read or play sports, but it is clear that the boy can barely do either.”

And it’s not like he’s alone. Many other stars like Sylvester Stallone, Doug Flutie, Jenny McCarthy and Toni Braxton are parenting autistic children. But Travolta either pretends that there’s nothing wrong with Jett, or claims that he has Kawasaki syndrome, a disease characterized by high fever, skin rash and swelling of the lymph nodes.

“Scientology is keeping him from acknowledging his son’s autism. They see it as a weakness,” said Tim Kenny, one of Travolta’s neighbors, and the father of an autistic girl. “He could do so much good for autism awareness if he would just come forward.”

The Travoltas’ lawyer, Marty Singer, told Page Six, “The Travoltas are wonderful, loving parents, and their priority is their children. They have [taken] and they continue to take the best possible care of their children. To suggest anything to the contrary is very hurtful to a loving family and also would be false and defamatory.”

Let’s just hope that John Travolta is doing everything he can to help his son Jett become a happy and healthy young man.