Celebrities open up about raising children with disabilities

Sylvester Stallone

The actor's son, Seargeoh Stallone, was diagnosed with autism. Interestingly, the infant in 'Rocky II' (1979) was his real son! Seargeoh Stallone portrayed Robert Balboa, Jr.

Colin Farrell

The actor's son, James, has a rare genetic condition called Angelman Syndrome. “By virtue of his honesty, struggle, persistence and his personality, James brings out the best in people. He literally saved my life. I was on a destructive path. When I couldn’t make the changes in my life for myself, I made them for James. He gave me the reason to be a better man and father,” said Farrell.

John Travolta

In 2009, the actor experienced the tragic loss of his 16-year-old son, Jett, who had autism and suffered from Kawasaki disease. Jett had a seizure, fell, and fatally struck his head.

Toni Braxton

“My youngest son, as everyone knows, my son Diezel suffers from – or I should say suffered from autism. I am one of the lucky parents. Early diagnosis changes everything. I will tell you this. I will shout it from the rooftops,” said the 'Un-Break My Heart' singer.

Mia Farrow

Mia Farrow’s son Ronan opened up about his family: “I am so proud of my family. I grew up across the table from Moses, who has cerebral palsy, and next to my sister Quincy, born of a drug-addicted inner-city mother, and Minh, who is blind. I could never have understood what it means to grow up blind or with cerebral palsy. I saw problems and needs, so the next thing you think is: O.K., what are you going to do about it?”

Brendan Fraser

During an interview on Howard Stern's radio show, Brendan Fraser shared his experience raising his oldest son, Griffin, who has autism. Fraser, known for his role in 'The Whale', openly discussed the initial challenges his son's autism diagnosis brought. He recalled, "When I found out my kid's diagnosis at 22 or 24 months, I was crestfallen, to say the least. The first reaction that I had was, 'I want to know how to fix this. What's the cure? What does this mean?'" Fraser continued, "You're just hit with a baseball bat in the back of the side of the head. Like what? This isn't the way it's supposed to turn out. You blame yourself and you think, 'my genealogy' or 'I smoked weed in college,' you start blaming yourself over the reasons why." Fraser also spoke candidly about the fear of his son's future care and the struggles of advocating for children with autism.

Sarah Palin

The former Alaska governor's son, Trig, was born with Down syndrome. Palin shared that "some people have been quite cruel," especially online.

Denise Richards

The actress' daughter, Eloise, was diagnosed with a chromosome disorder. "I don’t know if [Eloise] is ever going to talk like a typical child, but as a parent, you want what’s best for your children, and you just do it,” said Richards. 

Christopher Gorham

The actor's son, Lucas, has Asperger’s syndrome. “We got a diagnosis fairly late. He was nine years old, which is kind of the blessing and the curse of that diagnosis. Because he’s very high functioning we didn’t really know that something was off until later,” Gorham explained. “It’s upsetting to hear that something is wrong with your child. At the same time, it’s a relief to know what’s wrong with your child because if you know what’s wrong then you can start to take steps to help them,” added the actor.

John C. McGinley

The actor' son, Max, was born with Down syndrome. “[My daughter Billie's] biggest strength is language. She’s extraordinarily verbal, and Max’s biggest challenge is his lack of spoken language. He can read at a certain level and do arithmetic, but he doesn’t form sentences," said McGinley.

Tisha Campbell

The actress's son, Xen, was diagnosed with autism. “As a mother of a child who had to go through specific struggles, you want the best for them, but when you get this particular diagnosis you have to retrain your brain to think of your dreams and aspirations when it comes to your child to be a little bit more basic,” Campbell said. 

Gary Cole

The actor's daughter, Mary, is autistic. “People with autism, I don’t like to think of it as a disability, I like to think of it as another way of thinking or perceiving. And I felt my job was to try to perceive everything on some level through her eyes so I could know what it was like to walk in her shoes,” Cole said.

Brian Littrell

Backstreet Boys singer Brian Littrell's son, Baylee, was diagnosed with atypical Kawasaki Disease at age six.

Holly Robinson Peete

The '21 Jump Street' actress's son, JR, was diagnosed with autism. 

Greg Grunberg

The actor's son, Jake, suffers from severe epilepsy, and at one point was having up to 200 seizures per day. Jake underwent brain surgery and recovered, and he's now managing the condition with medication.

Katie Price

The British celeb's son, Harvey, was born with blindness, autism, and Prader-Willi syndrome. "The syndrome he has means he feels hungry all the time so he’ll just eat and eat and eat. It is really tough at times," she said.

Dan Marino

The former NFL quarterback's son, Michael is autistic. "We're going to do whatever we can to help Michael to get the best help. We want to give him the best chance he can have to succeed in life," Marino said when his son was diagnosed at the age of three. 

Jacqueline Laurita

Nicholas, the son of 'The Real Housewives of New Jersey' star, is autistic.