Colin Farrell might have a bad boy image in Hollywood but he's got a heart of gold when it comes to his son.

Farrell's son suffers from Angelman Syndrome, a neuro-genetic disorder and he's very thankful that his boy, now 4, had an early diagnosis.

The actor, 31, spoke about his son on the Irish talk show Tubridy Tonight.  "He's nothing but a gift.  As far as I'm concerned he's exactly the way he should be."

Although Farrell was on TV to promote his newest movie, In Bruges, he spoke of his son James and his disorder, which was revealed publicly last year.

"Angelman's is a neuro-genetic disorder.  The 15th chromosome is dormat.  It affects their fine motor skills.  They say that one in 30,000 children is affected by it."

Colin said that James was showing signs of the illness before he'd turned one.  Farrell said it was lucky that his son was given an early diagnosis.

"I've been very lucky that it was early because he started having seizures at about eight or nine months."  It was initially thought that James was suffering with cerebral palsy, but he was soon diagnosed correctly.

Children with the genetic disorder, can have speech, movement and balance impairment.  James walked his first few steps just last fall, when he was 4-years-old.

"It's just different. It's not different to me.  He has his own path.  He's just brilliant."

Colin and model Kim Bordenave, James' mother, share custody.  He decided to go public about his son's disorder after people started asking questions about his involvement with the Special Olympics.

"I didn't talk about my son [but] I felt like I was betraying him, like it could be misconstrued as shame, which would be terrible, because he's such a celebration."

Colin addressed the concept of "normal."  He said his son is happier than so many people in the world.  "I look around and I see people who move perfectly, who walk with grace, who speak with great diction and clarity and a great use of the English language and we're all miserable f*ckers - including me, at times.

"And then I see this fella who doesn't move the way what's perceived to be 'normal' is, and he's as happy as can be."

Wow - I truly have a greater respect for Colin Farrell - as a mom with a special needs child myself, I'm constantly being discrimated against for not having a 'normal' child, Colin absolutely summed it up perfectly.

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