Brittany Cartwright opened up about her son’s speech delay in a recent update.
The Valley star, who shares her son with ex-Jax Taylor, revealed to People that her 3-year-old son Cruz is autistic and mostly nonverbal.
During her revelation about her son’s condition, the mom of one recalled a touching moment when her son spoke a full sentence for the first time back in February.
“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 told the outlet. “I could have cried because hearing him say a full sentence was heartbreaking in the best way.”
It is a big milestone for the toddler, who can be seen struggling with speech since season 1 of Bravo’s The Valley. The worried parents’ search is also documented in season 2, releasing on April 15; however, the diagnosis came after the filming wrapped up.
“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 noted. “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 making efforts to adjust with her son’s 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.”
