'My Son Is Autistic & He's Incredible'

AFTER DOCUMENTING HER SON CRUZ'S CHALLENGES WITH SPEECH ON THE VALLEY, THE REALITY STAR IS OPENING UP ABOUT HIS DIAGNOSIS-AND HER ONGOING STRUGGLES WITH EX JAX TAYLOR

- BRIANNE TRACY

Sitting in the foyer of her Los Angeles home in mid-February, Brittany Cartwright recalls a recent moment with her 3-year-old son Cruz that almost brought her to tears. "He was in his car seat, and all of a sudden he goes, 'Mommy, I want to get out,' plain as day," says the reality star, 36. "I could have cried because hearing him say a full sentence was heartbreaking in the best way." Fans of Bravo's The Valley will recognize how big of a milestone this was for Cruz, whose struggles with speech were documented in the first season of the hit reality show last year. His journey, as well as Cartwright's and her ex Jax Taylor's search for answers about their son, continues in season 2, premiering April 15. Since filming wrapped before they received the official diagnosis from Cruz's developmental pediatrician last fall, Cartwright is sharing for the first time publicly that her son, who turned 4 on April 12, is autistic and has limited speech. "On the show it's obvious that he's nonverbal, and I wanted to be able to talk about this on my own terms instead of people on social media trying to diagnose him," Cartwright says. "My son is autistic, and he's incredible. I'm his voice now.