Life

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

JWoww Shares Inspiring Update On Son's Progress 1 Year After Autism Diagnosis

As longtime reality TV stars start families of their own, they often share their parenthood journey with fans via social media. However, when life doesn't end up Instagram-perfect, some stars refrain from showing their struggles. But not Jersey Shore's Jenni Farley, that's for sure. In fact, JWoww shared an update on her son's progress following his autism diagnosis, and you might want to grab a box of tissues before diving into the new info.

Initially, all that was known about now 3-year-old Greyson — whom she shares with her ex Roger Mathews — was that he had a speech delay, as Farley shared via Instagram in August 2018. "As a mother, I will go to the moon and back for my kids... no question. I live my life differently because of them," she wrote at the time. "To find out Greyson is 'behind' or 'delayed' crushed me... but only for a moment... that moment came from wanting to have 'perfect children' and 'how could this happen to me?' But Grey is PERFECT and it CAN happen to anyone."

Then in November 2018, Farley first revealed her son's autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis, People reported. And ever since, Farley has periodically provided fans with updates on Greyson's progress. On his third birthday in May, for instance, Farley wrote a open letter to her son on Instagram, sharing that he is no longer non-verbal. She wrote, "as you turn three, you know countless words, call me mommy 10394 times a day and your smile has grown 10x." Aww.

As for Farley's latest update, she took to social media on Oct. 1 to share how far Greyson has come, according to Page Six. "Watching this video brings me to tears," Farley captioned a video clip posted on Instagram. "I’m so proud and excited to update you guys on Greyson’s progress!""

If you follow the link to the full 13-minute video, the Jersey Shore star takes fans all the back to itty-bitty baby Greyson with a montage of his monthly milestones — leading up to today. "It's been a little over six months since he's started with We Care Autism, ABA Services. That has been one hell of an experience," Farley says to the camera, adding that Greyson is also working on potty training.

In case you were wondering, ABA stands for Applied Behavior Analysis, and it's a type of therapy based on the science of behavior and learning, according to AutismSpeaks.org.

Farley goes on to explain that Greyson used to have ABA 2-to-3 hours three times a week, on top of speech and occupational therapy at a local hospital. Recently, though, Greyson was approved for 30 hours per week of ABA, "which is huge because 30 hours of ABA a week has been a game changer," she said. Greyson also attends preschool for 3 hours per day, five days per week — where his ABA therapist works with him for 2 hours.

Watch the video, below, and try not to cry tears of joy for how far Farley's little guy has come.

"I feel like Christmas he should have even more of an update," Farley said toward the end of the video — which showed Greyson following verbal commands, pointing out animals on flashcards, and saying animal names when shown a photo. "I feel like the next goal will be fully potty-trained, 1 through 20 on his own, maybe ... I don't know. I feel like you're just taking over the world one day at a time."

Seriously, though. How amazing is it that Greyson has already come so far? His progress has clearly taken a ton of hard work on his and his mom's part. Here's to Greyson continuing to smash goals!