The Valley star Brittany Cartwright is giving fans an update on her son, Cruz, following the news that he has been diagnosed with a form of autism.
“It wasn’t a shock whenever we had it, but to finally have that — it opens a lot of doors,” Cartwright, 36, exclusively told Us Weekly of her 3-year-old son’s diagnosis, which she revealed publicly in an interview with People published on Wednesday, April 9.
“He’s been in OT [occupational therapy], in speech and he has a therapeutic companion that goes to class with him every day,” she continued. “He has everything he needs.”
Cartwright told Us that she decided to publicly share her son’s diagnosis in order to “use my platform for something good,” adding that it gives her a chance to “help other families that are going through something like this that maybe don’t know where to begin.”
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(An estimated one in 36 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network.)
“It’s new for me too,” she explained, adding that her son is “just so perfect.”
“I wouldn’t change a thing about him,” she continued. “He is the most amazing, special little boy. He is mostly nonverbal right now, but he still [says] things like ‘mommy’ all the time. He was saying ‘mommy’ today … he is just so perfect.”
Cartwright shares Cruz with her estranged husband, Jax Taylor. The pair first met in 2015, going on to tie the knot in 2019 before calling it quits and filing for divorce in 2024.
While Cartwright says she plans on using her “platform to be an advocate and just spread awareness” about autism, she is not afraid to admit that she is simply “learning as we go.”
“The world doesn’t know,” she told Us of being on the autism spectrum or raising a child diagnosed with autism. “There’s so many people [who] think they’re doctors in the comment[s] section … that think they know everything that’s going on. I’m like: ‘No, you don’t. Because even I don’t know.’”
She continued, “We’re learning as we go. And if we can help other families, that’s a dream come true.”
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Cartwright told Us that she doesn’t “have any other friends, really, that have children with autism,” so as parents they are not “going through what I’m going through.” Still, she says that once she shared her son’s diagnosis publicly, she has received “so much support.”
“I’ve had other people reach out to me [who] are, like, advocates,” she explained. “[People who] have fought for their kids for a long time. And they’re just like, ‘Thank you for sharing this.’ And it means a lot to me. We’ve had an outpouring amount of love and support and I think that’s amazing.”
Cartwright revealed to Us that she hopes to “help with different things,” including various charities dedicated to supporting children with autism and spreading awareness, as her and Cruz move forward.
“I wanna help other people as much as I can,” she added. “ I feel grateful that I’m able to do a lot of the stuff that I can for my son. I know it’s not easy for everybody, and if I can, like, help in any way — that’s really, really, really important to me.”
She is also hopeful for the future and the next chapter of her life with her son by her side.
“I’m getting my sparkle back; my confidence back,” she told Us. “I’m getting back to myself and that’s super important for me. I’m excited to be on this journey with my son and help other families.”
She continued, “I’m very grateful for a lot of things and I’m excited for my future, because it’s gonna be so different than I thought it would be 10 years ago when I first moved to L.A.”
The Valley season 2 premieres on April 15 on Bravo and Peacock.
