celebrity

Ajay Rochester opens up about the challenges of raising her 19yo son with Asperger's.

 

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here contestant Ajay Rochester has opened up about the challenges of raising her 19-year-old son, Kai, who has Asperger’s syndrome.

Speaking to TV Week magazine in a new interview, the former Biggest Loser host shared the ups and downs of raising Kai.

“There are some great times, but there are also really dark times,” Ajay told the publication.

“I’ve had a lot of things I’ve needed to overcome in my life. I’ve been exposed to abuse, violence and alcoholism, but nothing compares to being the parent of a kid on the spectrum,” she added.

The 49-year-old also admitted that she’s struggling with being unable to communicate with her son while in the jungle.

Describing being apart from her son as “crippling”, Ajay admitted that being away from Kai is her “biggest fear”.

Ajay Rochester shares her amazing adoption story on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here.

It’s not the first time Ajay has opened up about the challenges of raising a child with Asperger’s syndrome.

Back in 2016, Ajay was forced to defend her son when he launched a GoFundMe page to raise funds for his ill nine-month-old kitten.

“Today was the first time in a long time an article has made me cry. My son, who has Asperger’s, has a kitten that means the world to him, so much so that HE created a GoFundMe page to ask for help,” she wrote in a follow up post on Facebook.

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“I stand by my darling son who has Asperger and who many say, because of that, they lack empathy. I applaud my child who struggles with so many things, to love something so much that he asks the world he is so often not a part of for help.”

 

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In 2014, the former Biggest Loser host shared her anger after Kai opened his Christmas presents early.

“It seems Kai couldn’t wait and I just went to move the already hidden packages to somewhere else and they are all empty. It seems he decided to wear them all to school today,” she wrote.

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“I’m exhausted. This year has been the toughest year with him ever and I am so, so tired.”

Ajay also released a book about her experience, titled Like Me As I Am: Living with and Loving Aspergers, back in 2013.

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