Denise Richards Reveals Her 7-Year-Old Daughter Eloise Has Special Needs: ‘Every Child Is Different’

As a proud mom to three beautiful daughters, Denise Richards knows from personal experience that “every child is different” and comes with their own unique set of parenting challenges. And while speaking about her family in a candid new interview with People, the 47-year-old star revealed her youngest child, daughter Eloise, 7, has special needs and, as a mom, she’s still “learning every day” how to best care for her little girl.

“She can only say a handful of words. And there are times when she feels like her age in understanding, and then other times where it feels she’s emotionally 3 years old. It’s been challenging. I’m learning every day because they don’t really have a road map for her particular case,” Denise said, explaining that Eloise has been diagnosed with a chromosomal disorder that “has caused a lot of developmental delays for her.”

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“Every child is different. You take care of your children no matter what is going on with them,” the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star continued. “I don’t know if [Eloise] is ever going to talk like a typical child. But as a parent, you want what’s best for your children, and you just do it.”

Denise — who adopted Eloise as a single mother back in 2011 — revealed that she first started to notice delays in her daughter’s development when she was a baby. “She wasn’t able to sit up on her own for a very long time, and she didn’t start walking until she was 2, and that was with physical therapy,” she recalled.

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Above everything, Denise is just simply thankful to be a mom to her girls, Eloise, Lola, 13, and Sam, 14. “I’m most proud of raising my kids, especially in a time that is very different from how I was raised,” the actress, who welcomed her two eldest daughters with ex-husband Charlie Sheen, said. “It’s extremely hard to keep children grounded. This is not an easy time to grow up.”