“We’ve known for a while” — Jax Taylor speaks about 3-year-old son Cruz’s autism diagnosis

American TV personality and model Jax Taylor opened up about his son being diagnosed with autism in an interview with Extra. Cruz, who turns four years old on April 12, is the son of Jax Taylor and his divorced wife, Brittany Cartwright. Jax Taylor announced on 9 April.

Cruz was diagnosed by his developmental paediatrician six months earlier. In the interview, Jax Taylor said,

“We’ve known for a while. Brittany and I have been going back and forth on how we wanted to tell everybody."

He added,

"My little boy is amazing. He’s so beautiful. He’s so delicious. He’s such a smart individual you know, but he’s obviously got some issues with autism.”

Following the announcement, Jax Taylor said,

“I want to be affiliated with autism for the rest of my life. I want to be in charities. I want to be whatever I can do to spread awareness to help financially, physically, mental. I want to be a part of it all."

He continued saying,

"I feel like this is a sign from somebody that I need to be a part of this world and I want to help out other parents. I want to meet other parents.”

Shortly before Cruz turned two, Jax Taylor and his wife, Cartwright, were aware of his developmental challenges. Cruz had been meeting all the necessary milestones at first, including his first words. He could say 'Mommy' and 'Daddy'. According to Cartwright, he started regressing after the age of two. In an interview with People Magazine, she said,

"He crawled early, he walked early. He was talking, he was saying, 'Mommy,' 'Daddy.' He was saying 'Hot Dog!' from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Then, as he got closer to 2, we started noticing that he was regressing in his speech. He stopped talking almost completely."

Taylor Jax, who stars in The Valley, added,

“When you see other kids … progressing a little bit further than your son and you’re like ‘Why aren’t they understanding?’ It can be a little frustrating, but I know he’ll get there. He’s just taking a little longer.”

According to Cartwright, Cruz "sporadically says different words," such as "Mommy," despite being nonverbal. She expressed love and support for him, saying

"It can be difficult because I've never heard him say, 'I love you,' but he is so loving, and he shows me he loves me every single day. He is such a mommy's boy."

Cartwright, who also stars in the same show as her husband, said that even though they were "expecting" the diagnosis, it became more "real" once a doctor confirmed it to them.

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Jax Taylor on sobriety, divorce, and autism

Jax Taylor opened up about the most challenging time in his life. He revealed that he had been sober for 132 days at the time of the interview, and Jax Taylor had battled depression and the emotional aftermath after this divorce.

Jax Taylor called it the "worst year" of his life. PTSD, bipolar disorder, OCD, and almost losing his own house and his connection with his kid were among the mental health problems that Taylor Jax had. Jax mentioned that he was "disgusted" by how he appeared in the first few episodes of the season.

Jax Taylor talked about Cruz being his inspiration while battling all this. He said,

“He is my driving force… my angel. I love him more than anything in the world, and, you know, when I was at my darkest moment, which was a lot, there was times I just didn't want to be here. I didn't want to be here..."

He added,

“But then I thought, I'm like, ‘Listen, my son's gonna grow up one day and he's going to not have a father, and I just could not be that selfish... I would hurt more people, I think, than anything else, and I just really, really want my son grow up one day knowing that his dad had a problem and he fixed it and he rose above and he's a good man now.”

Jax Taylor went on to add,

“Of course, I'm going to date again someday, but one thing I know, I will never get married again, that's for sure. That will never, ever happen again. That was a one and done thing."

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Co-Parenting through change

After noticing this, Cruz Taylor and his wife took no extra time and got help. They got their son into speech and occupational therapy. She admitted that their life would be a bit challenging, adding,

"Our life is going to look a little bit different, but I feel like I was meant to be his mom. He is my better half. He is my little partner in crime. He is everything to me, and even though he can't talk, I know everything that he wants, everything that he needs. We're just so synced, it's incredible."

Before telling everyone about it, she revealed that she had prepared how she'd give them the news. She remembered,

"I wrote this paragraph out and talked about his diagnosis, what it meant, what we're working on and how I felt like I was meant for this."

Sharing more details about her tough times as a parent, she added,

"Yes, it might be challenging at times, but I couldn't imagine my life being different. It can be sad at times because you want them to live life to the fullest, and he does, he just does it in a different way. What I really want people to understand about autism is he sees the world so much more vibrant and amazing than any of us ever will. It doesn't mean that he's not going to be the smartest in his class. It doesn't mean he is not going to work for NASA one day. There aren't any limitations to what he can do."

Both the parents are focused on "early intervention", she said,

“This is the time he’s building his brain. I’m just trying to do everything I possibly can to help him live the happiest life ever. I feel very blessed that I’m able to give him everything that he needs, and that’s why I want to help as many mothers as I can. I have learned so much over the past couple years.”

In their home in LA, Cartwright makes sure that Cruz has everything required to grow and develop. Cruz has a sensory room and goes for therapy multiple times a week. The busy mom added,

"I just make sure that he never misses a class, never misses a therapy session. If I have to work, I have the most amazing nanny in the entire world, she is literally my family. I don't know what I would do without her. Sometimes Jax will take him. I want him to learn things as well, but the majority of the time, it's me. And I feel like I need to be there, I need to be learning what's going on, so that I can really work with him at home as well."

Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright separated in February 2024 and filed for divorce in August. Cartwright has been trying her level best to take care of herself as she believes that

"At the end of the day, everything I'm doing is because of my son."

She believes seeing her son do well is all worth it.