The 'Jersey Shore' star hopes to use her platform for autism awareness.
Jenni "JWoww" Farley couldn't be more proud of the "leaps and bounds" her son has made since he was diagnosed with autism.
ET sat down with the cast of Jersey Shore at Patsy's Italian restaurant in New York City on Tuesday, where Jenni opened up about her 4-year-old son, Greyson's, progress since she revealed his autism diagnosis last November.
As Jenni revealed, she was dealing with Greyson's doctors appointments while filming season three of Jersey Shore Family Vacation. "He's honestly the best, and I think at that time, it was October, so I think I had to leave the dude ranch to go to one of his diagnosing appointments literally in the middle of the night."
"You had to leave at like, 3 a.m.," Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi chimed in.
"It's like, a four-part diagnosing at the hospital, and at that point I was OK with it, and I just wanted to get to where I am today, where he went from non-verbal, not even knowing his name, to today, where he's attempting full sentences," Jenni said. "He has a personality -- he's really just leaps and bounds. He's come so far with all his therapies and stuff."
For Jenni, it's "exciting" to see her son's progress -- and her family's mindset -- change while watching Jersey Shore Family Vacation. She's also grateful for the opportunity to spread autism awareness.
"My biggest thing with the platform and Greyson is -- and I know a lot of people that try and deny it or brush it under the rug or just not speak about it -- speaking about anything, especially autism, can break the stigma. That's my biggest thing that I want to do right now, because there is such a big stigma, but there's also a big population of kids getting diagnosed," she continued. "I just want to make the world a little less harsh and more sweet, so when he goes to school there will be less critics and more people that want to help and understand what it's like to have autism. So, that's my goal."
Jenni, who also shares 5-year-old daughter Meilani with her ex, Roger Mathews, said she's been supported throughout her son's diagnosis by her Jersey Shore co-stars.
"We always support each other," Vinny Guadagnino expressed. "I always send Jenni podcasts. I'm like, 'Look, I think that this is going to be good for Greyson, or you're going to learn something about this.' [We're] always looking out for each other."
"When it comes to diet or anything like that, I always turn to Vinny. When it comes to alcohol, I turn to Nicole," Jenni joked.
"It's called balance," Vinny cracked.
"Or parenting," Snooki added.
"It's all about balance. We feed off each other of what the other person lacks," Jenni conceded.
The bond the Jersey Shore cast shares is something Jenni and Snooki are hoping to pass down to their children. Meilani and Snooki's daughter, 4-year-old Giovanna, are already "best friends."
"Our daughters are literally spitting images of us," Jenni noted. "My daughter is just a little bit taller than Gigi, and the attitudes are the same, it's amazing."
"It's literally 2.0," Snooki noted. "And we love it!"
Snooki is now a mom of three, having recently welcomed a baby boy, Angelo, with her husband, Jionni LaValle, in May.
"Angelo just turned one month! It's a big deal," she gushed. "He's growing into himself, getting chubby cheeks now."
Ronnie Ortiz-Magro couldn't help but marvel at how far he and his co-stars have come over the past 10 years. "We always say we're a family, and I feel like that's what families go through -- whether its the good times, the bad times, and we've been around each other for what now? 10 years. So, we've been through it."
"Births, weddings and divorces and whatever. It's been horrible relationships -- like, we've always been around everything in each others lives, and we've always been there for each other, so that's what we we do and that's what we know," he continued.
"There's so much more to us than fistpumping and drinking," Snooki said.
"But that's also why I like these seasons the most, because it does tackle the hard sh*t. When we would only film in Miami or Jersey or Italy, we tackled what happened in that like, 30 to 40 days, and that was it," Jenni explained. "Now we have that very like, at-home style, where cameras follow us for longer and catch us at our highs and lows... that are not concentrated just from a house and like, within ourselves, but with all our families and friends."
Jersey Shore Family Vacation returns Thursday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV. See more in the video below.
RELATED CONTENT:
News
