Jenny McCarthy has been a huge autism activist over the last several years since her son Evan was diagnosed. She also says he’s recovered from it [http://www.celebitchy.com/15953/jenny_mccarthy_says_her_son_has_recovered_from_autism/], thanks in part to the help of a wheat-and-dairy-free diet. Evan also suffers from seizures, which is what killed Jett Travolta two weeks ago. Many have said that Jett also had autism, but the Travolta family has never confirmed it. Jenny said her heart went out to them, and also defended their right not to talk publicly about their son’s medical issues.

~Jenny McCarthy knows the terror of nearly losing her autistic son, Evan, following a seizure. Evan was saved, while sadly, John Travolta’s son, Jett, died from his seizure, a death that hit Jenny close to home. “When I first heard the news about Jett, I slowly kind of sat down… because my heart went out to them – you know, such compassion and understanding for what they’ve gone through,” Jenny told Access.

A tragic common bond – Jenny’s 6-year-old autistic son Evan also suffers from seizures. “Last year, Evan had another seizure where he seized for seven hours on and off and we had to put him in a coma for four days so he wouldn’t go into cardiac arrest,” Jenny revealed. “So looking at Jett, I cried out of fear for my own son, and for, I can’t even tell you how many children, with autism.”

Though she is an outspoken autism activist, Jenny doesn’t want to jump to any conclusions about Jett. “I have no idea if Jett had autism,” she clarified. “I didn’t see, you know, enough footage, or ever meet Jett to give a diagnosis of my own.”

But if Jett had, in fact, been diagnosed as autistic, Jenny does not fault the Travoltas for keeping it quiet. “It’s very difficult to go places where everyone sees who you are and then their eyes immediately go to the child ‘cause they know what the diagnosis is and they stare at the child,” she said. “And no one ever wants that feeling, so they tend to keep it quiet…. They should have the right to keep whatever they want to themselves, and share what they want with the world,” she added.
[From Access Hollywood]

There has been a lot of finger pointing at the Travoltas for the way they handled Jett’s medical condition. They’ve said he suffered from Kawasaki disease. Ultimately Jenny is right – whatever he had, it’s the family’s right to keep it private. They didn’t owe the public a rundown of Jett’s health issues when he was alive, and they don’t owe us one now.

There is the whole issue of Scientology’s negative view of autistics, who they see as “degraded beings.” But that doesn’t necessarily mean the Travoltas shared that belief. There are many parts of my religion that I don’t believe, and from many reports John and Jett had an extremely close relationship. Jenny’s view is empathic and kind towards a family that must be going through tremendous grief right now.

Here’s Jenny launching the Suave beauty stimulus promotion in Times Square on Wednesday. Images thanks to WENN.