Brittany Cartwright, star of The Valley and mother to a son with her ex-husband Jax Taylor, recently provided an update regarding her three-year-old son Cruz’s speech development.
In an interview with People, Cartwright revealed that Cruz has been diagnosed with autism and is primarily nonverbal.
During her candid discussion about her son’s condition, the mother of one recounted a particularly moving moment that occurred in February when Cruz spoke a complete sentence for the very first time.
“He was in his car seat, and all of a sudden, he goes, ‘Mommy, I want to get out,’ plain as day,” the reality star shared with the outlet. “I could have cried because hearing him say a full sentence was heartbreaking in the best way.”
This marks a significant milestone for the toddler, whose speech struggles have been apparent since the first season of Bravo’s The Valley. The concerned parents’ journey in seeking answers is also documented in the show’s second season, set to premiere on April 15th; however, Cruz’s autism diagnosis came after filming had concluded.
“On the show it’s obvious that he’s nonverbal, and I wanted to be able to talk about this on my own terms instead of people on social media trying to diagnose him,” Cartwright explained. “My son is autistic, and he’s incredible. I’m his voice now. I’m his warrior now.”
Following Cruz’s diagnosis, Cartwright has been actively working to adapt to her son’s specific needs.
“This is a whole new life for me,” she admitted. “I don’t have any close friends that live near me that have kids with autism, so I don’t really have anybody that can relate to what I’m going through. They’re all super supportive, of course, but there’s just a lot of ins and outs that a lot of people don’t really understand.”
