BeavisMom62
No, Butthead is NOT here!!
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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.
Great post Gitana! Very informative. Thank you for those of us who are "ignorant", like myself about this condition.