Jenni “JWoww” Farley revealed that her son’s autism diagnosis weighed on her marriage to estranged husband Roger Mathews.
“I took the initiative for getting [my son, Greyson] help,” the “Jersey Shore: Family Vacation” star, 33, told co-star Deena Nicole Cortese during Thursday’s premiere (via Us Weekly). “That was a huge argument between Roger and I. [He said], ‘He’s fine, he’s fine.’ [Roger] had a nervous breakdown in the pediatrician’s [office]. My heart broke for him because he was like, ‘I just want my son to walk down an aisle and have a family of his own.’”
Their mixed parenting styles, she said, led to “tension” in their relationship as they took opposite approaches in getting Greyson help.
“Roger believed that Greyson was a slow learner and he was going to learn on his own,” she shared. “That caused a lot of tension on our household because we have one parent like, ‘I need to get ahead of this and fix it,’ which is me, and then you got another parent like, ‘What are you doing? It’s not a big deal.’”
In May, JWoww paid tribute to Greyson on his third birthday and opened up about the incredible progress he’s made since starting early intervention therapy.
“Today you turn 3. This past year flew by so fast. I had you start early intervention 2 days after your second birthday,” she wrote on Instagram. “You didn’t know your name, you didn’t know how to say mommy… as you turn three, you know countless words, call me mommy 10394 times a day and your smile has grown 10x. To my perfect son, happy birthday… I’ll continue to hold you every night until my last breath.”