John Travolta's brother Joey thought Jett had autism
According to the London Mirror, there have been many Travolta family arguments caused by Jett Travolta's illness.
The source, a close friend of John's brother, Joey Travolta, told the Mirror that Joey and John often argued about what was wrong with John's son Jett.
John didn't believe his condition was autism, a condition not recognized by Scientology. Brother Joey believed Jett suffered from autism.
Ironically, John's brother Joey had learned a lot about the disorder when he interviewed 65 autistic youngsters for a documentary called "Normal People Scare Me." He even co-wrote the theme song, "Locked Inside of Me."
The award-winning documentary taught people about autism, which can cause violent seizures. Joey also formed the group Actors for Autism, which helps autism sufferers make films about their lives and experiences.
According to Hollywood Elsewhere, John and his wife Kelly Preston did not attend a 2006 autism event, Cure Autism Now, at which his Joey's documentary was screened.
The friend told the Mirror: "Joey could see Jett in every one of those 65 kids he spoke to (for the film.) It was so obvious Jett was autistic just from spending five minutes with him, but the cruel fact of their religion meant his parents simply did not accept it."
Click here to see a video of Jett with his family, shot in Paris just a few weeks ago.
John and Kelly have long denied suggestions that Jett had autism, saying instead that he suffered from seizures brought on by Kawasaki Syndrome.
According to the Telegraph, some health experts say there is no link between Kawasaki and seizures. However, it's reportedly common for sufferers of autism to have seizures if they are left untreated.
Autism is often associated with epilepsy. Nearly half of autistic children in the U.S. are prescribed anti-convulsion drugs. About a third develop epilepsy. Many suffer from seizures that can begin in adolescence.
And, according to many experts, there are dozens of drugs designed to help, beyond the one Jett was reportedly forced to discontinue because it stopped working.
This is getting more and more confusing. What do you make of all this?
Keep reading to see a video of Joey at the Travolta Film Camp for Autistic kids and Joey at a reading on World Autism Awareness Day on April 2, 2008.
Photo: Joey Travolta in 2004. WireImage
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John Travolta's public statement about Jett
Scientology critics cite 2007 blog about Jett's impending death
Family lawyers say Jett's death caused by head trauma
John Travolta's son, Jett, 16, dies in the Bahamas
If everything that has been said is true, this is not getting "more and more confusing", this is on the contrary getting clearer and clearer with all the facts falling into place.
What is difficult to accept is that they could overlook their son's health and well-being simply because of the inept religious teachings from strangers. Where has common sense gone?
First, I think the lawyers are talking way too much. I understand clearing up the timeline, but it seems there are new comments by the lawyers several times a day. Very weird.
Second, it seems they are saying the medication hurt Jett and stopped working, so they discontinued it. Why would they have not tried something else when their son had such horriffic seizures from their own accounts. Whenever you are on medication long term you have to do the blood work to make sure there are no serious side effects. If there were in this case there were other options as far as medication is concerner. Why would you just allow the seizures?
Sad for them, but don't understand the logic.
The death of a child is so heartbreaking no matter the circumstances. It seems even more tragic when it is unexpected. Unfortunately the Travolta and Preston family will now experience a generation of grief where once there was joy.
Dr. Terrie Modesto
www.drteriemodeto.com
"However, it's reportedly common for sufferers of autism to have seizures if they are left untreated."
It is very important to understand that there is NO known or proven medical treatment for autism itself. If seizures (or any other treatable medical condition such as anxiety or ocd) are present in autistic persons they are treated for those 'co-morbid' conditions. You aren't treating 'the autism', you're treating the co-morbid condition.
Seizures are more common in the autistic population than average, but you don't 'get seizures' by 'not treating autism'.
It's a very important distinction.
It's doubtful, that Joey Travolta would argue about this, they are a close nit (large family) and they stick together. Reports from the Star-Banner here in Ocala Florida, show that Jett Travolta endured many visits, to Marion County Hospital, where he was diagnosed by specialist with having Kawasaki Syndrome. The press is merely playing up an angle, when they should just leave the Travolta family alone particularly in they're time of grief.
For those who will say this shouldn't be discussed:
1) They are not 'just like any couple'. They are celebrities with a great deal of money and power, and they use that power to aggressively promote a wacky 'religion' invented by a SciFi author.
2) That 'religion' is associated with a lot of scary things and a number of deaths, many of them due to cult members not receiving medical treatment.
3) The controversy about the kid's incorrect diagnosis has been ongoing for some time. This is not new.
If you can't see past the 'what if it were your kid!??' thing, just realize that this goes way deeper than people jumping on the tragedy like vultures--there is an actual background to this one. Getting the facts matters, even if only for other austistic children of scientologists.
It is a tragedy that Jett passed away. But it is a greater tragedy that his parents let their religious beliefs keep them from provideing proper treatment and care for their precious child. I hope that someone will look into this and stop this kind of thing from happening again.
I think it's none of my business nor yours. Travolta's brother is not a doctor nor a trained diagnostician; in fact, were he not a Travolta, no one would his opinion the time of day. The boy was under a doctor's care and seizures happen even when people are on meds for them; the idea that religion caused the boy's death is being fostered by people who don't like the religion, not by people with any real information or understanding about or of the boy himself. Travolta has always been gracious to the press and his fans ... he doesn't deserve revolting, gossipy articles like this one.
Hi, interesting article. This is not as confusing as you may think. Kawasaki's Disease , whatever that is, and Autism Spectrum Disorders, whatever those are, have many overlaps. It is quite possible that both are caused by the intersection of genetic inability to process toxins (low glutathione just for starters) but that it depends at what stage of pretnatal development or infancy the insult to the body happened, and which enviornmental insult it was. For example, the HepB shot, given at birth or shortly thereafter, contains 250 micrograms of aluminum when 20 micrograms are known to be toxic. . Yet, 99% of infants can apparently tolerate this. But if an infant is a preemie or on antibiotics (which limits your bodies ability to process toxins) or taking Tylenol (which reduces glutathione) or just has an immune issue or a mitochondiral dysfunction or a fever, taking that shot may cause brain or body damage. . . The Travoltas and others believed metallic toxins in carpet cleaners harmed Jett. The point is, they may be right. He was diagnosed as Kawasaki's. But he may have also or instead had autism. And because "autism" has only very recently been offically recognized as being a MEDICAL condition not a psychological one, treatable by biomedical interventions AND psychologocial interventions, it is very possible they made an honest mistake that any doctor would have made. I.E. Jett had BOTH Kawasaki and AUTISM because they are BOTH different names of versions of the same condition. . .
My heart goes out to them. I disagree with how they treated Jett's condition but I have to say that traditional medical science at this point may not have had much else to offer them than Scientology. If this upsets you, consider donating to www.generationrescue.com which focuses on research to prevent and treat chidhood conditions like autism caused by toxins. Thank you for reading this. Expert on autism due to my son, who is WAY better because we did biomedical intervetions that are cutting edge and not yet traditional--but will be . . .
Blinders. . .blinders. Love often blinds us to facts. I have an autistic grandchild who is doing marvelously thanks to his wonderful parents who recognized early on that something was wrong. They took him to a team of 7 specialists in the field, and from the age of 29 mionths, he recieved oodles of care in occupational, physical, and behavior therapies as well as a gluten and diary free diet, which he is still on. He is now 5 years old and started kindergarten right on scedule this year in a regular classroom -- and he is doing great with it. I won't judge the Travolta's, but any "religion" that denies a well-known medical condition recognized all over the civilized world, is a diabolic institution, not God centered or child centered. It amazes me how intelligent people can be so fooled by the bunk -junk of a science fiction (key word here is FICTION)writer who just decided to create a religion and had nothing else going on for him.