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FROM REALITY TV STAR TO SUPERSTAR MOM: JACQUELINE LAURITA’S JOURNEY TO RECOVER HER SON FROM AUTISM WRITTEN BY DANIELLE DAVIES PHOTOGRAPHS BY GIULIANNA MARIE STUDIOS / WAYNE, NJ Actor Minnie Driver once said, “Celebrity is a weird appendage, which is useless unless you do something with it.” For Jacqueline Laurita, one of the original cast members on the wildly popular reality show, The Real Housewives of New Jersey, knowing what to do with that celebrity wasn’t always clear. “I always wondered what my purpose was on our drama filled show,” explained Laurita, continuing “I never felt the urgency to push products or insert myself in the media celebrity...I felt like I just went through the motions without a purpose.” The Boardwalk Journal | April 2013 | 35
The diagnosis she received last summer for her son changed all that. Laurita, married for more than 11 years to her husband Chris, (who is also the brother of another original cast member, Caroline Manzo), has three children: 22 year old Ashlee, 10 year old CJ, and three year old Nicholas. Last summer, the Laurita’s were informed that their son Nicholas has autism. “My son’s diagnosis gave me a purpose, a mission, and RHONJ gave me the platform to do some good, to raise awareness and to make a difference. Many people have reached out to help my son. I am beyond grateful for that. My husband and I now want to help as many people as we can. RHONJ gave me a large social media following and millions of TV viewers which gave me a voice. I am determined to use it for some good,” Laurita explained. Though Laurita, a fan favorite on RHONJ, is relatively new to the world of autism, she has spent much of the last year educating herself, and those around her, about the realities and misconceptions about autism. After all, it wasn’t very long ago when she was the one clamoring for more information. “I wanted to be handed a map from A to Z of what I needed to do to recover my child, but there is no such map,” Laurita said of hearing the diagnosis. “The autism spectrum is so wide and each child needs to be treated individually.” Although Laurita felt she needed more information, she had already taken the formidable step of getting a diagnosis. Though parents are often the first to notice their child “showing unusual behaviors,” according to Autism Speaks, “doctors unfamiliar with diagnosing autism sometimes dismiss parent concerns, delaying diagnosis and the opportunity for early intervention therapies.” For Laurita, those signs began to surface when Nicholas was between 18.5 months to 2 years of age. “Nick was not advancing in his milestones as quickly as his cousin who is 2 weeks younger,” Laurita shared. “He also seemed to be regressing. It was very gradual. As a mother, you just know...you sense it.” The signs were heartbreaking. Nicholas wouldn’t answer to his name when called. He couldn’t follow Laurita’s finger as she pointed to an object. He seemed to tune out the people and the world around him. Along with being unable to follow simple commands, he was regressing. He had a loss of language, and stopped singing his favorite songs and using utensils. Beyond that, sometimes his eyes would go to the side and he would start spinning in circles. He would go upside down a lot. His interests were specific and limited. Instead of being interested in the people around him, Nicholas would spend a lot of time lining up his toys and focusing on the credits from his favorite TV shows. Though Laurita didn’t know exactly what was 36 | The Boardwalk Journal | April 2013 going on with Nicholas, she did have some experience with and knowledge of autism. When her older son, CJ, was little, his shyness prompted his then preschool teacher to suggest he may be on the spectrum. CJ was tested, and while he wasn’t diagnosed with autism, Laurita worked with her son to bring him out of his shyness, initiating daily play dates for him after school. Though she didn’t know it at the time, she was already becoming an autism advocate. Although armed with only scant information about autism, Laurita began researching the Autism Speaks website to get to the root of Nicholas’s issues. She began with the M-CHAT—Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers—a “scientifically validated tool for screening children between 16 and 30 months of age to assess their risk for autism spectrum disorder” according to Autism Speaks. Laurita brought her concerns to her pediatrician, who referred Laurita to a developmental pediatrician for testing after Nicholas hardly acknowledged her presence when she entered the examining room. While waiting for that appointment, the Laurita’s visited two DAN! (Defeat Autism Now!) Doctors, one in Irvine, California and one in Middletown, NJ. (“DAN! Doctors are trained in the ‘DAN! Protocol’ an approach to autism treatment which starts with nicholas
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