Travolta pressed on teen son

New York Post/June 1, 2007
By Richard Johnson with Paula Froelich

June 1, 2007 -- JOHN Travolta, 53, and his wife, Kelly Preston, 44, just announced they want to try for their third child - even while they fall under increasing pressure to publicly acknowledge the disability of their son, Jett.

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.

But parents of autistic children say 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.

One magazine editor who has interviewed Travolta more than once says that the star's son is disabled - and yet he 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.

Tim Kenny, the 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," Kenny told Ebner.

According to the Church of Scientology, people with mental illnesses are "degraded" and capable of curing themselves by working harder on the church's teachings.

"It's fine with me if Travolta doesn't want to become the poster child for autistic parents, but every time the parent of an autistic child hears about someone else who is in this fight, it makes them feel better," said the editor who interviewed him.

"He could do so much good for autism awareness if he would just come forward."

Travolta's 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."