- Hi. - Hello. - So, Gabe communicates
through eye contact a lot, too. - [Chris] What did he
just tell you right there? - What do you think he just told me? I always think he's telling
me, "I love you." (laughs) - No.
- I like to think that. - I think a lot of times you are. - I think he's telling
you, "Where's my cookie?" - Did he ask for that? (Gabe vocalizes) - Earlier. I know.
- Oh. - [Chris] How would you
describe your family? - Fun. - Yeah, fun, happy.
- I think we're fun. Adventurous.
- I would agree. - We like to do things. We are all about experiences. So, going on adventures
together, exploring. - Yeah, we like to expose Gabe to a lot of things to see what he likes. - Hey, Gabe. I'm excited to be here with you today. I'm having a great time
meeting you and your family, getting to know all about you. What would you say is
the most important thing for others to understand about Gabe? - Oh, I really want people to understand that he's just like you and I. I think so many people
when they come up to Gabe, even my family included, they just, it's like they talk
to me, or they talk to Nikki. Whereas like, people should
understand that he is a person, and he is just like you and I. Just because he communicates differently doesn't mean that he doesn't understand. He understands everything, and you should speak to him as such. So like, speak to him, get on his level. I think that's the most important thing. - Talk to him like he's a 13-year old boy. - [Chris] Do you have a go-to
if you wanna make him laugh? (Caroline sighs) - Well, lately his favorite thing to do is no matter what, like
if it's the football, - Play keep away. - Or if it's my phone,
it's like keep away. And so if he knows you want something, he, yep I know, then he's gonna smile. - And you'll never get it
- I didn't get it. - because his arms are so long. - And he's so strong. I know, I said you would never, - You are strong. - Another football player
would never be able to get the ball away from you. So that would make him laugh. - I like your sense of humor, Gabe. It made me laugh when I saw that you liked to play
keep away with your family. I thought that was really funny. I can tell you have a
wonderful sense of humor. If somebody wants to
form a bond with Gabe, how should they start? - I think music. - Oh, yeah.
- Is a great way. - I think that first off, I think, I feel like we have
some people in our lives that haven't figured out yet that if you wanna connect with Gabe, you need to go over to Gabe. You need to look him in the eyes. You have to make sure
that he's looking at you, and talk to him. And when Gabe wants to
connect with someone else, he'll maybe walk over to
you, and touch your face, and guide your face directed at him so he can make the eye contact. I think that's so smart.
Like, he's figured out... Gabe is 13 years old, he's non-speaking. He has figured out how
to connect with others in a way that I've never
seen anyone else do it. - Yeah. - Your parents told me how you love Queen. I'm a big fan of Freddie Mercury myself, and I have my phone with
Spotify right there, and I thought I might put on some Queen. I know you like the song
"Another One Bites the Dust." (singing) Bump, bump, bump.
Another one bites the dust. Let me get it on here real quick. Here we go. (gentle upbeat music) ♪ And I'll be saved by rock and roll ♪ ♪ You can take my money ♪ ♪ Steal my car and sell my clothes ♪ ♪ You can save the shoes I'm in ♪ ♪ Go on and take everything ♪ ♪ You can have about everything I own ♪ ♪ Just leave that old piano ♪ ♪ Maybe a chair ♪ ♪ So I can sit down there
and play when I'm home ♪ ♪ Take all these things I know ♪ ♪ Even take the telephone ♪ When I sat beside Gabe, I was talking a little bit,
and then I thought to myself, "Why not just do an
activity we both enjoy.", and I put on some music. Is it sometimes okay just to sit there, and enjoy the moment with Gabe? - Yeah.
- We often do. I think that's great. - You don't always have to
be talking and communicating. You can just purely be listening to music, and enjoying it together. - I wanna play for you one
of my favorite Queen songs. This actually isn't one
of their popular songs, but I heard it one day, and
I just fell in love with it. (slow blues music) (slow blues music continues) (blues music continues) (blues music continues) (blues music continues) (blues music continues) - I took him to the lakes
in our neighborhood, actually, I guess it was a week ago, and it was still, like all
the leaves were falling, and I wanted him to really see it. So I brought him there, and I'm like, "Gabe, what do you think about the leaves falling?" Like, I know he's not gonna
literally answer me back, but I know he's thinking about it. I know, you know, even if he
doesn't say his answer to me, I think it's still like
we're still communicating. I can see it in his eyes. I can see it in how he moves even though he's not speaking back to me. - [Chris] What is your biggest
hope for Gabe's future? - Hmm, I want him to have friends, and I want him to be happy. - Yeah. - And just have love in
his life in some form. And you know, I don't want
him to ever feel alone. - Yeah. - So that is my wish for Gabe is that he's always surrounded
by people who love him, and that he's challenged, and feels fulfilled in doing
whatever it is that he loves. Like, right now we know he loves music. He dances so beautifully. I hope, I hope that he can continue that throughout his life, and maybe even find a
profession where he can dance. I mean, he loves to dance. I think that my... You
know, one of the things I'm proud of you for, Gabe, - Yeah. - is that you really are the
best dancer I've ever seen. The way you can move your body in such a graceful,
beautiful way is so special. (mellow music) (mellow music continues) (mellow music continues) (mellow music continues) (mellow music continues) (mellow music continues) (mellow music relaxes) - [Chris] After we listened
to a few songs together, he just briefly touched my arm,
and pulled away, and smiled. Is that something he does often? - When he likes you.
- Yes. - When he feels a connection,
he will definitely do that. I'm so happy that you did that, Gabe. - And I also feel like it's a little bit of
your playfulness, too. It's like, "Okay, you're it." - [Chris] How often would you say you know what Gabe is thinking? - Hmm. I think I always know,
but how do I really know? I really, it's just a strange feeling. Like, we really communicate in a way that I don't think many people do. I mean we, it's funny to say this, like we touch our foreheads to each other, - Yeah. Can we show 'em? - And like, really look at each other, and I think- - Can you touch your forehead to mine? - Gabe really feels that I
understand what he's thinking, and I think I do, but I don't,
again, I don't know for sure. It's just one of those I know gut feelings that we're so connected. The three of us are so connected. But I think when someone can't speak, or is unable to speak the
way Gabe isn't able to, I think we develop other
ways, and it's, yeah. - But then there are
definitely those times where I feel as though like, "Gosh, I really wish I
knew what he was thinking." Like, let's say he gets hurt or something, or he has a stomach ache, and I don't know necessarily
if it is a stomach ache. I mean, we do have that
unspoken bond and connection, but there are definitely
times where it's like, "I just wish I knew." - [Chris] You met Gabe
when he was six years old? - Yes. - [Chris] What was it like
the first time you met him? - Oh, I was so, so, so excited. I thought you were the coolest kid. I felt very lucky to
have met Nikki and Gabe, and I felt very lucky to
become a part of the family. Like, it was a very
natural, easy connection. I think part of that is
I grew up, I'm a teacher, I've been around kids my whole life. I love working with kids. So I just feel like I have
a nice bond with kids. And so I think right off
the bat I felt a connection. - And I think he felt a,
from what I could tell, he instantly really liked her. Caroline's a fourth-grade teacher, but you actually were
a first-grade teacher at the time when we met you. - Yeah. - And Gabe was in first grade, actually. - Yeah. - And it was really perfect. He, I feel like the first
night that you came over, - Yeah. - Like, I don't remember how
far into our relationship, but she was like the only...
I can't get Gabe to eat. Like, I've just never been good at it. But she was able to like, she sat down at the table with him, she got him to eat his whole
dinner, and she would say, "Now you're a member of
the Clean Plate Club." Remember? (laughs)
- Yeah. (laughs) - [Chris] How do you describe
the way he experiences life? - Oh, on a much deeper
level than you can imagine. I feel like the rest
of us are just, we're, you know, we don't stop
and smell the roses, and I think Gabe literally does do that. And it's nice to be his mom because it's something
I get to do with him, and I get to see things in a
way that I never did before that I wouldn't have
thought to before, you know? So, I feel like life became
more beautiful, actually. (relaxing acoustic music) (music continues) (music continues) - [Chris] On your wall, you have a lot of pictures of your family. Tell me about that one of the three of you with the mountain behind it. - That is one of our favorite
experiences and memories in all the seven years, and I would say my whole life, maybe. We took Gabe to, we took a road
trip to Colorado this summer so Gabe could go to a special
camp for kids with autism. And we did have to drive, so we stopped off in Boulder, Colorado. We have a friend there, and we decided let's make the most of it, and go see a concert tonight. So we had never heard of
the band. It's called STS9. They were playing at the
Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado. So, very close to where
we were staying, and- - [Chris] Is this picture also from that? - [Nikki] This one is from a rodeo. - [Caroline] Same trip. - [Nikki] Same trip. - We stayed outside of Aspen
in Snowmass for a little bit, and they do a rodeo there every summer. And so this was taken there, and Gabe had the best time
- He loved it. - watching the rodeo. It was like amazing. I
wasn't expecting that. - [Chris] I love these
stories 'cause it really shows that you can be an autistic,
non-speaking person, have a beautiful life, and
be part of a close family. - Thank you.
- Yeah. - [Chris] Is that something that you knew when he was first diagnosed? - I didn't think I'd
have a great life at all. I thought that it was...
'cause I didn't know. I didn't know anything. I just thought, well I was single because my husband had passed away, and it was very hard anyway. And I just thought, this
is something I don't think, I don't know if I can handle this. I don't know how I'm going to, I don't know the first thing about autism, or you know, I really just
didn't know what to do, and I didn't have the help because my family lived in New York. I just really didn't have anyone. And I started realizing, like, especially when Caroline
came into our lives. - Yeah. - Because it got so fun. Like we started having
fun all of the time. - And I wasn't deterred whatsoever. Like, you know, we met on a
social media app, and she- - No, on a dating app. - Sorry, why did I say social
media? But yes, dating app. - Yeah, we met on a dating app. - And I know you had
mentioned that she had a son, and that her son had autism, and I didn't, that didn't
phase me whatsoever. - I was afraid to tell her. I didn't know how she'd react. Every other person I had,
you know, dated prior, I didn't really get a sense that they were so excited
about that (laughs), you know? And I've always been nervous, but telling you was so
different than telling, you know, the reaction was just, she didn't really have
any kind of reaction. - Right. - She's like, "Okay."
- Just like another kid. - That was our second
date that I told her. - I was excited to have, yeah. But I love being your mom. Your bonus mom. - Thank you, Gabe, for sitting with me, and listening to some music. I really enjoyed our time
together. That was amazing. - Who cares what other people think? Life is too short. I regret that time in my life when I was so afraid of
what everyone else thought. And I can say that about
everything in my life. Not just being a mom
to a child with autism. And Caroline and I are partners. - Yeah. - I was married to a man. Gabe's dad unfortunately
passed away before he was born. And I was in this relationship with her, and I didn't even tell
anybody for, you know, I would say a couple of years because I didn't, like, wanna... I was scared of what
other people would think. And I think once I was open about that, and like our whole lives, I mean, we're open about
everything in our life, and I just feel like we're
so happy because of it. We don't care what other people think. - Yeah.
- We really don't.
Gabe is so over it all.
he looks cool
outstanding hair
Autistic Tadzio
so you get to hang out with him . what music do you show him ? I'd go for some polyphia
u/MaryShelleyStepOnMe look! someone found your dream boyfriend!
Probably has better takes on the Pope.
The dude who does these interviews seems very off to me
What the hell