Tisha Campbell’s oldest son, Xen Martin, is headed to college! The veteran actress shared the exciting news with her social media fans earlier this week.
“Today, I cried happy tears for two hours straight in traffic,” Tisha told her Instagram followers. “My son, Xen, got into the college he’s talked about since he was eight years old,” the celebrity mom revealed.
“He didn’t wait for anyone to help him,” Tisha added. “He didn’t wait for us to help him and when someone said he’d never get in — He applied anyway. It’s so apropos because that’s how he has lived his life regardless of the odds.”
Xen Martin was diagnosed with autism as a toddler. Tisha Campbell did not want to accept the diagnosis at first but, with the support of other parents whose children also lived with autism, ultimately settled into the notion and worked to improve her son’s quality of life.
Tisha and her ex-husband, Duane Martin, did so well that Xen began to deny the idea of him having autism. “He’s never been in a special needs class because I wanted him to model after typical kids and now he’s a typical kid,” Tisha said during a 2013 interview with ESSENCE. “He has a girlfriend and he is now speaking; you can’t shut him up,” she added. “He says, ‘I used to be autistic and don’t be telling my girlfriend I used to be autistic either.'”
Now, Xen is headed to college to study science. “My baby wants to be an animal conservationist and he will be,” Tisha declared earlier this week. “He has stayed on the dean’s list and is holding down two jobs because he wants to be independent of a silver spoon,” the celebrity mom shared.
Campbell ended her announcement by writing to her son. “Xen, mommy’s goal was to make you as independent of me as possible,” the actress said. “I wanted you to be able to survive greatly without me. I never knew you would surpass my hopes for your future. You are amazing, man. Mommy loves you with all my heart and soul. You and your brother are my everything. Thank you for choosing me as your vessel.”
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Photo: Tisha Campbell/Instagram
