Colin Farrell is thankful for the early diagnosis of his 4-year-old son's neuro-genetic disorder, Angelman Syndrom, and looks at his experiences with him as a gift."He's nothing but a gift," Farrell said about son James on the Irish interview show Tubridy Tonight. He added: "As far as I'm concerned he's exactly the way he should be."
"Angelman's is a neuro-genetic disorder," he explained. "The 15th chromosome is dormant. It affects their fine motor skills. They say that one in 30,000 children is affected by it."
The actor first revealed his son's disorder last fall after reporters started to question his involvement with the Special Olympics. James had been diagnosed before his first birthday which led to an early diagnosis for the family.
"I've been very lucky that it was early because he started having seizures at about eight or nine months," said Farrell. The doctors initially thought James had cerebral palsy but soon he was diagnosed correctly and "we got early intervention," said Farrell.
The genetic disorder, which can impair speech, movement and balance. As a result of continued intervention James walked his first few steps last fall, when he was 4.
"It's just different," said the actor. "It's not different to me. He has his own path. He's just brilliant."
Farrell is a proud dad who shares custody of James with ex-girlfriend Kim Bordenave. "I didn't talk about my son [but] I felt like I was betraying him, like it could be misconstrued as shame, which would be terrible, because he's such a celebration," says Farrell.
"I look around and I see people who move perfectly, who walk with grace, who speak with great diction and clarity and a great use of the English language and we're all miserable f---ers – including me, at times.
"And then I see this fella who doesn't move the way what's perceived to be 'normal' is, and he's as happy as can be."
Source: People
I have to say, I was never a Colin Farrell fan. I watched his movies and they were ok, some good. I was not overly impressed with his lifestyle, pre James, and his choices but obviously that doesn't make a difference because we all do what we want anyway.
ReplyDeleteReading this and also reading the information previously about him and his son and how he's cleaned up quite a bit, I'm very impressed. It was and is quite refreshing to see him parent in a way that is both loving and responsible. I think his words about his son are beautiful and I'm definitely changing my opinion of him.