Jon Gosselin Shuts Down Ex-Wife Kate’s Claim That Their Son Collin Has ‘Special Needs’

When Kate Gosselin first opened up about her son Collin’s special needs back in 2015, she explained on a TLC special that he “has some educational and social challenges” and needed to learn how to work on his problem solving skills. In her book, I Just Want You to Know, she wrote that her son had “challenged [her] authority greatly” since he was 2 years old. And in August 2016, she admitted that she had sent him away to a special program suited for his needs. Now, however, Jon Gosselin has been awarded temporary sole custody of Collin — and he’s saying that the now-14-year-old doesn’t have special needs at all.

Over the Christmas holidays, Jon posted a family photo of himself, his son, his daughter Hannah, who he also has custody of, as well as his girlfriend, Colleen, and her two kids. “Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our family to yours!!!” he captioned the snap, and fans were excited to see them all together. One fan, however, had a question for the father-of-eight. “I’d love to know if he actually has ‘special needs,’ or if he just didn’t deal with Kate’s BS like we all suspect,” they wrote. And surprisingly enough, Jon replied: “He is not on any spectrum or [has] special needs.”

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This contradicts what Kate has said in the past. “At two and a half, you began testing and trying my parenting at every chance. I called Daddy at work many days crying because you would not obey,” she wrote to her son in her book. “I had to ask you every day, ‘Who’s in charge here: you or me?’ You would reluctantly answer, ‘You are.’ As you have grown, this has not changed. You continue to be determined to do what you want to do, and I continue to try to rein you in.”

She also told People that “he needs to learn certain strategies to help him deal with things.” She explained, “[There’s] a fairly fluid diagnosis of what those needs are… This has been a struggle we’ve had for a very long time, and it’s one I’ve dealt with on my own. I’ve felt very alone in this. By the same token, it’s not something that has only impacted me or him — our entire family has been impacted.”

According to Radar Online, a source also told them that Collin had entered the facility for help addressing “anger issues,” but it seems now that Jon doesn’t believe that there’s anything wrong with his son. This may have been a factor in Jon being awarded temporary custody — and it will certainly continue to play a factor in the former couple’s ongoing custody battle.