Proud Gregg Wallace reveals non-verbal autistic son Sid is making huge progress after special family Christmas
MASTERCHEF star Gregg Wallace has revealed his autistic son Sid is making huge progress and had a number of firsts this Christmas.
The TV star, 60, and his wife Anne-Marie, who is 24 years his junior, dote on non-verbal Sid, four, and have created a loving environment for him to grow up in at their rural home in Kent.
Speaking on today’s Lorraine about Sid’s development since starting at a special needs school in the autumn, Gregg said: “He, for the first time ever, opened his presents properly and played with his presents and interacted with the family, so a shout out for his school, Five Acre Wood, a special needs school in Kent where we live.
“They’ve done a great job with him so we can see massive progress with him. He’s a good boy.”
Gregg then added: “I’ve just got to say, we’re not looking to cure our little boy, we’re looking to understand him more and give him the best opportunity we can.”
Though Sid can’t speak, and may never be able to, Gregg previously told us how he has found other methods of communication such as leading his parents by the hand.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun in conjunction with Ambitious about Autism, Gregg said: “The biggest challenge is… they’re fears more than anything else. If he’s upset or he’s unwell, at the moment, he can’t tell us, and I’m not sure how he would communicate that to us.
“He started school and, of course, you can’t say ‘are you making friends?’ So all you’ve got is him skipping into school and looking forward going into school.”
For Gregg, social situations that many take for granted require a little bit more planning to ensure they run without a hitch.
He continued: “An issue is the public understanding when you go out that you haven’t got a naughty child, you’ve got a child that simply doesn’t understand the concept of ‘be good and we’ll give you ice cream’ or ‘it will be here in a minute’.
“You can’t bribe or threaten him. When he’s bored or fed up, that’s it.
“Of course, he can’t use cutlery. He’s very particular about the food he eats. If you’re going to try and go out for lunch you have to tell the pub first you’re bringing your own food for your little boy.”
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that impacts people socially and developmentally in a myriad of ways.
For Sid, one of these is a delay to toilet training, but Gregg was confident his new school will bring him on.
Gregg continued: “He’s still in nappies as well, but we’re very fortunate with the school. They’re going to try and work on his toilet training.
“It’s his first term. We were like ‘what are you going to be doing with our Syd?’ and they went ‘nothing at all but play’. He’s going to have this first term falling in love with school.”