John Travolta admits son suffered from autism, a medial condition not accepted by Scientology cult

John Travolta tells court of autistic son’s death

John Travolta told yesterday of his desperate attempts to save his dying son after he suffered a seizure at their holiday home in the Bahamas — and acknowledged publicly for the first time that the boy had suffered from autism.
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Consumer Alert: Scientology Quackery
Scientology is evil; its techniques are evil; its practice is a serious threat to the community, medically, morally, and socially; and its adherents are sadly deluded and often mentally ill… (Scientology is) the world’s largest organization of unqualified persons engaged in the practice of dangerous techniques which masquerade as mental therapy.

– Justice Anderson, Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia, quoted at What judges have to say about Scientology

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Speaking so quietly that at one point he was asked by the judge to speak up, Travolta confirmed what had long been rumoured in Hollywood but never been discussed in public by the family. “My son was autistic and suffered from seizure disorder. Every five to ten days he suffered seizures which lasted 45 seconds to a minute,” he revealed.

His reference to autism was all the more remarkable because of Travolta’s belief in Scientology, a religion considered by many to be a cult.

One of the religion’s tenets is that mental illness is psychosomatic and can only be realistically treated through spiritual healing. Scientology does not recognise autism as a real affliction and shuns psychiatry as a “pseudo-science”, putting Travolta’s admission yesterday at odds with a church in which he is a leading figure.
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His testimony, which was set to continue last night following a short adjournment, is considered key to the prosecution’s case against Tarino Lightbourne, a paramedic, and Pleasant Bridgewater, a former senator, who are charged with trying to extort $25 million from the actor by threatening to go public with a document relating to Jett’s medical care.
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– Source / Full Story: John Travolta tells court of autistic son’s death, Jacqui Goddard, The Times, Sep. 24, 2009 — Summarized by Religion News Blog

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Religion News Blog posted this on Thursday September 24, 2009.
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