Abby De La Rosa and Nick Cannon’s son Zillion is making great strides to becoming verbal after being diagnosed with autism.
“Our son Zillion said ‘OPEN’ today for the first time and his therapist and I were ecstatic!!!” De La Rosa, 33, wrote alongside an Instagram Reel on Wednesday, October 23. “We’ve been praying for moments like these and boy is god delivering! Our son is going from Non-verbal to verbal right before our eyes 🥹 Glory to god 🙌.”
In the clip, De La Rosa sat with Zillion, 3, on her lap as the little one proceeded with his speech therapy session. As the duo were working with Zillion, the therapist pointed to an object in the child’s hand. The toddler looked at the item and quietly said the word, “open,” which got an emotional reaction from both De La Rosa and the professional.
“Baby,” she tearfully told Zillion in the video. “We’re so proud of you.”
Earlier this year, Cannon, 44, and De La Rosa revealed that Zillion was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASD is a condition related to brain development that impacts how a person perceives and socializes with others, per the Mayo Clinic. The disorder also includes limited and repetitive patterns of behavior.
“Our beautiful boy experiences life in 4D and teaches us something new everyday!” the pair wrote in a joint Instagram statement in April. “His love, strength and brilliance light up every room he enters! We are blessed that God had placed such an amazing spirit under our guardianship and we have accepted this assignment wholeheartedly!”
One month after going public with Zillion’s diagnosis, De La Rosa shared that Zillion primarily communicated via signing and his tablet.
“This is a difficult one because he’s so active and can be quite attentive, but there were several signs I started noticing at 6-7 months,” she wrote via her Instagram Stories during a Q&A session. “A mother’s intuition knows but I just tucked it away. It wasn’t until the last year (probably the busiest year ever) that I noticed my baby was really struggling with some things like eye squints, lack of eye contact, lining up his food and toys, specific color interest, etc.”
In addition to Zillion, Cannon and De La Rosa are also the parents to son Zion, 3, and daughter Beautiful Zeppelin, 23 months. The actor is also the father of twins Moroccan and Monroe, 13, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Mariah Carey, kids Golden, 7, Powerful Queen, 3, and Rise, 2, with Brittany Bell, son Legendary, 2, with Bre Tiesi and daughter Onyx, 2, with LaNisha Cole. Cannon also welcomed their daughter Halo, 22 months, with Alyssa Scott, one year after their 5-month-old son Zen died of brain cancer in December 2021.
Cannon expressed his gratitude for all his children’s mothers for all the work they do while he balances fatherhood and his career.
“I thank God for their mothers,” Cannon exclusively told Luxury Handbag Shopping in September. “They kind of plan accordingly, and they don’t have to be, but they’re real empathetic to my process. So, you know, they do things. I’ve seen them make so many sacrifices, so I can be there and haven’t missed a birth or a birthday yet.”
