Travolta under fire for not confronting son's alleged autism

By Stone Martindale Jun 1, 2007, 17:42 GMT

03/28/2007 - John Travolta - Wild Hogs UK Movie Premiere - Arrivals - Odeon West End - London, England © Solarpix / Photorazzi

The New York Post is reporting that Scientologist John Travolta, 53, and his wife, Kelly Preston, 44, are under increasing pressure to publicly acknowledge the visible disability of their son, Jett.

The Post claims Travolta has "either pretended there is nothing wrong with Jett, 15, or claimed his condition is Kawasaki syndrome, a disease characterized by high fever, skin rash and swelling of the lymph nodes."

The Post reports that some parents of autistic kids are saying that Travolta "should join Sylvester Stallone, Doug Flutie, Jenny McCarthy and Toni Braxton, who all have autistic kids, in raising awareness and research funds to cure the disease."

Allegedly a prominent editor who previously interviewed Travolta more than once confirms to the Post that the star's son is disabled  but continues to "behave as if nothing is wrong."

"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," the editor said to the New York Post.

A father of a 4-year-old autistic girl from Ocala, Fla., near the Travolta estate, told Mark Ebner of HollywoodInterrupted.com that "he introduced the actor in February at a restaurant he manages 'as one autistic child's father to another' but that Travolta was in denial."

"Scientology is keeping him from acknowledging his son's autism. They see it as a weakness," the father told Ebner.

The Post claims that the Church of Scientology dismisses mental disorders as a "degraded" state and that suffering people are "capable of curing themselves by working harder on the church's teachings."

Travolta's lawyer rebutted the article and 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."

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