An Autistic Nonspeaking Teen (And How We Became Friends) 

mhm

@@lanaxv GABE IS A GOOD FREAKING HUMAN BEING JUST BECAUSE HE CAN'T SPEAK IF YOU HAVE AN ISSUE GO CRY TO YOUR MOM PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS AND DISABILITIES ARE IMPORTANT IN THIS WORLD

wish he was allowed to play video games... then i would play along for sure

@@mybrokenmindddd huh....

What a unique life... Everyone thinks life is about getting married, or having experiences or having children or being successful. In reality the meaning of life is life. I'm glad that some of us can have more unique walks through this bed of strange flowers. Thanks for what you do. Its very important to this world. Thanks for that smile, too. c: May God be with you.

Yes

How are they communicating

@@lindalarsson1436 he lifts up his head to let everyone know he is interested in the cookie

I want a cookie too now

@@lindalarsson1436 ever heard of body language?

RIGHT?!!

Totally agree

Such a pleasant lil boy. Truly previous smile

Yesss❤

Totally!!! Now that you say it, I see it!

I'd say it's less of a stereotype and more of a symptom of autism. though it is a symptom of autism, some outliers that don't exhibit this symptom, such as Gabe, exist. Just like some people who have autism are non-verbal, but others are verbal.

@@isaacvoorheis8158Exactly, as I’m someone who has high-functioning autism, I can say that I have a hard time maintaining secure eye contact when communicating with different groups of people. People forget that’s called a “spectrum” for a reason.

​@iamlabyrinthh I remember being young and having extreme problems with holding eye contact with people. I don't know if I'm autistic or not. I learned to force the eye contact and deal with the feelings I got. The feelings have subsided after decades of doing this. But, now people tell me that my gaze is absolutely piercing. Coworkers comment to me that my heavy, sustained eye contact is almost too uncomfortable for them sometimes. I usually say "well, now you know how I felt as a kid."

@@peterharrell7305 autism isn't diagnosed just by the way you hold eye-contact. A lot of kids are shy and can't hold eye-contact for long.

@@isaacvoorheis8158 i'd say it's both. Stereotypes usually come from symptoms.

How do you know he doesn't have these things? It's impossible they didn't think of this since you, a casual stranger briefly watching him enjoy music, could deduce that this might be a good idea. They see him loving music, dancing to it 24/7/365.

​@Laura-kl7vi you seem angry, chill..

⁠@@Laura-kl7viwow they were only sharing an idea, no need to unleash your anger onto them

That's sad, he's too handsome to be such a ret4rd3d.

​@@Laura-kl7vi Why so edgy? The commenter wasn't.

This it made me cry, I've worked in care with people like Gabe, and when you are able to make contact on a level that they feel safe with, it is the best. Everything could go wrong during a shift, but having a smile from one of the clients who didn't make contact that easely, would allways be the best of the day.

How do you know?

Exactly

@@livmarlin4259 im assuming they meant that as a general statement. I work with kids with ASD that are non speaking and i think once you get a connection with them, it feels more authentic than most interactions with neurotypical people

@@livmarlin4259 your ignorance is amazing.

I think most parents are just trying to get their kids to a point where they can take care of themselves

I dont think its rare to see it depends what lense you are looking through one of internilsed abilism tht makes u mad at most things parents of autistic kids do that are just trying the best with no manual or if your looking at the non intenilisef abilism lense cuz theres alot of them out there dude im autistic too

Какие родители?!

Какие родители?!

@Cat litter angyl I don't think anyone was parent shaming. Be calm.

agreed. just because they may appear "different" in social situations like these doesnt mean theyre not aware and engaged in the conversation

My autistic cousin was alawys someone I wanted to be around . I was broken hearted when he was instutionlized . He became big and aggressive . I love him . My cousin Marco .

He’s such a handsome boy but he is on he’s little world 🌎

He doesn't speak because hes embarrassed of his lesbian mother

Shame on you ! This young boy can be happy not being in your surroundings.​@@MAnon-sq5nf

Gabe is very sweet

Yes, you could tell the gay man was shipping him. Not sure if I find this healthy or not.

@@pureffm !!!!"d¿

@@pureffm?

@@pureffmhelp what 😭

SBSK is a treasure. The work he and his partner do is enlightening, interesting, and shows a kindness that is rare to say the least.

@@jeffhandley3224 Chomo say what

I'm constantly amazed at what I see on this channel it's hard to put into words, it's pure feeling in a way that I don't experience very often any other way (and I rarely feel moved to express a sentiment anything remotely like this).

yes.

Yes it is

Sure he gave him space. I think we all need that time to time.

When I got a job at a local paper I was slightly overwhelmed because I never went to school. I spent years watching Chris though and began watching him closer and I think I really learned how to be a decent interviewer because of him. He and his partner and this channel is such a treasure to have online, for soOOo many reasons

He's SO good at it! He can connect with anyone. As a person who has difficulty connecting with people, I envy that skill.

@@MamaGator lol I have coop this summer

One thing though - when you're talking to an autistic person, don't look at them continuously, like Chris did. Look away from time to time., (this video is great, it's just a minor thing, but don't put someone with autism under continuing eye contact. It can feel challenging)

That's sad, he's too handsome to be such a ret4rd3d.

He’s mewing

​@@himmick5438 bro- 💀

He is!!! He's very angelic

He's a teen

@@anonymouse2059she's probably a teen too..

proof looks matter more than personality lol.

He’s nonverbal, not brain damaged!

@@paulcox2447nope if he turned out having a bad personality, no one would like him. It is a complete turn off from romantic attraction

does he have Instagram by any chance?

THIS!

He’s so cuteeee

@@Ilikebookssss He does actually! I was just on their profile a few days ago

@@shyspeaks9238 what is it?

Dissabilitie arent supposed to be burdened

The thing is… autism itself (as a sufferer) can be really hard to deal with. It’s important that we aren’t viewed as burdens though.

@@Ethan-ee8rv oh yeah totally! autism can still affect ur daily life and can be rlly hard to deal w especially if ur undiagnosed, but its not necessarily fatal and shouldnt be treated as smth to be cured yk 😯

why does he have two moms?

@@ShadowIllusions they are a lesbian couple

They probably traumatized him in some way

​@@taopaille-paille4992why do you think that? Not discrediting your opinion, truly curious as to how you gather that. Like when he was a baby you think something might have happened to make him that way?

​@@taopaille-paille4992I know you are a very religious person. You know how I know.. because they are the most dump😂

@@user-en8zw6wv9i Obviouslly, not all children from homosexual parents are autistic, and not all children from heterosexual parents are non-autistic. Life is a matter of statistic, and i do not have any tangible element to sustain my "claim". It is more of a feeling of seeing the two mothers. Sometimes, you can see in indivudual that something is not right / twisted. And obviously, that is a very subjective question and very hard to prove

​@@taopaille-paille4992Gabe had a father who died when his mom was pregnant.

I bet he could speak if he wanted to, but why not just let the adults around him make the effort to figure him out instead? If I carried a child all of its life would it ever learn to walk? If I solved a kid's problems every time they met a challenge, would they ever learn to think for themself?

@@Kathy-pr4wu I don't think autism works that simple

@@Kathy-pr4wu You're partially correct, but there's more to it. There is definitely a difference between these individuals and us .. but HOW and WHY that difference originates remains a mystery to science. There is (stastistically and scientifically speaking) a higher likelihood that it results from very early conditioning, than any kind of genetics or accident of birth. We know that from the huge amount of research carried out in the 20thC. For reasons we don't fully understand, this early conditioning (what used to be called 'orphan syndrome') seems to coincide with either limited intelligence, or hyper intelligence. We may never understand the mechanism, but it's crucially important that we keep studying this phenomenon - without impediment from obstructive politico-social ideologies.

@@Kathy-pr4wu I also wanted to say that those who would condemn your words, are the obstructors I refer to. Ask yourself whose interests it's in to demonise this very important research. How on earth does it help these kids, to refuse to consider ALL possibilities? It doesn't. It never will. This obstruction is purely for the comfort of the 'healthy' individuals in the autist's orbit. They don't like what it may be saying about their role in the person's condition. Always look for the motive behind the anti-science, and if there's even a trace of self-interest in it, you know it's both unsound, and unkind.

@@Kathy-pr4wu nonspeaking autism isn't a matter of willpower or being coddled

Yeah, I got chills too. I saw he was opening up.

Yeah he loved it

He REALLY enjoyed that guy time.

This is why, as a verbal autistic person, I enjoy nonverbal communication like that. Nonverbal communication has a much greater capacity to induce strong positive feelings in other people than verbal communication(at least in my personal experience).

Such a beautiful moment

It's that childlike joy you lose once you become a teenager, yet he still has it, I actually envy him. I wish I could be his friend, trying to see the things he enjoys and doing them with him is something all of us could use every now and then,

​@@tennolife9930 My I think second cousin's 18 and he's the same way. He can't say much and they think he's autistic.

Yep cuz you know it's genuine, not second guessed or filtered. Pure.

Hello Dennis, Can I ask you a question?

Repent to Jesus Christ ““You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬ J

@@EeeeKEEDYbeeky they're from another planet

@Irina Nadia Really? There are all kinds of ways that a child can be raised by two loving parents of the same gender.

All children deserve to be loved & raised in loving families. Remind me again, what exactly Jesus Christ said about this.

Thank you for sharing your personal insight. It's interesting considering we can all be sitting in the same room listening to a song together, but each one of us hears it differently. I've never thought about that before. I would gladly sit quietly and listen to music with you. 🥰 When I was younger, I really listened to music and noticed all the details and individual instruments. I loved and appreciated music so much. But as I've gotten older, music gradually became just background noise to ignore while trying to get work done or something to fill the silence while driving or performing some task. It's been a very long time since I've just sat and listened to music without distractions.

I didn't know austists had interest in social

@@joroc ideally it would be nice to be called a person with autism rather than 'an autistic' it just sounds nicer. I'm a massively social person with autism I have a large group of friends I go to gatherings and parties. We're normal human beings with a brain that just works a little differently so just like there are "normal" people who enjoy being social and some who don't that applies to people with autism as well. I think the confusion can lie in the fact some people with autism have issues identifying social queues. I have no issue identifying social queues and responding to them but it's a constant active effort and it can be honestly exhausting pretending to be the same as a non autistic person.

@@Heather_Morgan I often use the RU-vid algorithm to just listen to new music, it's amazing at offering things you enjoy. If I'm having a difficult day that's often how I'll spend an evening.

i would listen to music with you anytime

I don't think I've watched a single one of these videos without crying. It's beautiful to see people love each other so much.

@h654bx1u8hk What? mine is a serious compliment to this guy what's your problem?

@eun64d525yh5df of course looks are everything

He's a very handsome young man

@@ilariacatini7752 He's pointing out that Gabe isn't that special, and that most people can't think of anything redeeming aboout Gabe's personality, except his looks.

@@officerjimlahey but they are talking about his smile

Autistic people can have enhanced pitch processing and ability to identify emotional information in music, which is of course interesting because they do not comprehend emotional information that comes from body language or speaking tone well at all. I'm autistic so I have my theories on why all that is the way it is, but suffices to say that in therapy music is a good tool for autistic people to vent/channel emotions and process them. As long as it's music they like. In essence, guy puts on music Gabe also likes, to him it's like a huge amount of information they can pass back and forth through the experience of listening to the song and knowing they are both having a good experience from the same thing. Neither person has to say anything.

Wonder if he like Heavy Metal.....😁

​@@Velereonicstrue I'm on the spectrum and I feel more emotion from music than normies. Also I like to send songs to people with lyrics or melody in that communicate how I feel.

Gabe is a rock star....l hear Freddie, l see Bowie

Gabe is a rock star....l hear Freddie, l see Bowie

But it not about them and how they choose to live it’s about this wonderful young man.

She is absolutely beautiful inside and out! Both moms are!

@@shaunalea823 it's about the whole family and their experiences. Why are you triggered

@@shaunalea823 but my comment was. Why are you mad?

@@shaunalea823 how his mom's met was a part of the story in the video. He clearly loves both of them. He is awesome and it's obvious his mom's have been an amazing support to him. It's ok to connect with everyone in this story.

I honestly got teary eyed 😢

It's also possible that Gabe had no idea what he said.

I noticed how tall he was. I thought he was 15-16. But man, he sure is a tall for a 13 year old.

Yea he is so tall and handsome, he could easily be a model and make a good career 💗

I just realized that he did do a runway walk at fashion week if you check out their channel!

I thought the absolute same! He’s tall and such a handsome boy.

Is she still alive?

​@@livmarlin4259wtf why are you asking that??

@@livmarlin4259 why would you ask that? Autism is not a deadly thing

Thank you for sharing:)

@@livmarlin4259 💀

I was always partial to Keep Yourself Alive.

@@Boonehams i

I thought it was just the video edit so there is no copyright strike lol

Yeah lol as a fellow autie I felt that. Well known song? Eh ok sure I'll enjoy it. Oh you know more? Now let's engage!

@@jpthescott5793 oh it certainly was. But he did mention that he put on the song Melancholy Blues and you can tell when the song really drops. He sits up and looks at him like "Oh you know know huh?"

Same

You work for 40yrs to have $1M in your retirement, meanwhile some people are putting just $10K in crypto from just few months ago and now they are multimillionaires..

That's great! I'm motivated too! How can we achieve this challenge?

No specific one really, because there are lots of investment plans and strategies littered all over the internet today, for instance, investments like real estates,gold, drop shipping crypto currency and lots more

Warren T. Sonia is an amazing tutor for crypto. Highly recommended! She’s been my Tutor and Mentor for past solid 8years!

frfrfr

Red from Pokemon? 😂

link!

@@rishiranjansingh8754 Claude from GTA3

Link

Hello Missy how are you doing today?... hope my message found you in a pleasant way?

@@daviddietrich5104 what’s your motive replying to all these women?

you can tell he was saying “hey I really liked this song”

@@jasminetpf6366 its a bot

@@GRRRRAAAAAAHHHH i doubt it, i think its some old man tryna get laid trought youtube comments

This is beautiful to read. I'm so pleased you made an effort and you are now friends ❤❤

He might, though if he has speech apraxia he may have other types of apraxia that would make it hard to do the fine motor movements required for guitar. There may be other instruments that don’t require that though

apparently, he just received a guitar as a christmas gift!

@@juliabrenska4925 i love that! :)

During one of the music bonding clips I actually thought “I wonder if Chris can play guitar? Imagine if he whipped one out and tried to teach Gabe a few of the easy chords like Em, C, D, G, A.” (Standard chords for learners

@@juliabrenska4925 Thank you for the lovely update, that is so good to hear!

@@abigailaluebhousele1297 What an insightful comment full of nuance; this was truly a learning experience. Thank you for your life-changing wisdom.

Probably cus we care.. not like straight parents who are abandoning their children or ab*sing them..

You mean There are so many humans raising children with disabilities.

@@HouseOfVirgo No, actually. I meant what I said. I have a pretty good handle on the English language.

@@TravisMcMurray No one cares that your lGbtQiA. Its not about you, narcissist. Its about the children that are being presented here and those like them. The fact that you're LGBTQ is irrelevant. Again, no one cares!

lol exactly

I think people in the comments mean it more like, the way he communicates and interacts is so different. They aren't saying he's not a person. That's what I like to think.

@@TopOfAllWorlds agreed. I don't think anyone is trying to be mean or anything but he just gives off that vibe.

100% people are totally missing the point

@@TopOfAllWorldsthey’re still missing the point

Ive followered their tiktok for a long time and have also always wondered this

what is synesthesia?

@@jamiegdubois I think it's @fortheloveofgabe

@@bukai_oklm it's when your senses kind of combine in a way. So synesthesia is seeing shapes/colors when listening to things.

@@summermurray8258 like when taking drugs XD

I was thinking the same! He's beautiful, what a loving family

The medicine drug mafia make medicine side effects to restrain their tongue muscles not to speak , this boy is a victim of dark side of under world .

Omg yes he's freaking gorgeous..... what a gem ♡

I feel like the model life could be overwhelming to him. Idk how he's with sensory overload but photography studios sure have a lot of it... Noise, flashes, and people talking from everywhere :( If he'd accomated to, I'm sure he'd do amazing though!

Let him have his own instagram and be his own manager 😂 then YES! Otherwise no... We all know the fashion world is evil.

Melancholy Blues by Queen!!! Would have loved to include it in the video but had to change it for copyright reasons.

@@SpecialBooksbySpecialKids I played it alongside the video anyway! Take that, copyrightists!

Why did you chose a song Dave likes?

@@mariovalenzuela7153to make him safe and comforting and happy

Wat is de derde song you played

This is such a lovely comment, well said Denise ❤ hugs

Just wait till they divorce.

@@officerjimlahey why spread negativity ??

@@Arako Better than most of the BS comments on this video.

@@officerjimlahey why would they divorce?

He actually did say that in a video on their tiktok, but they didn’t catch it as it was at a restaurant that was noisy. It got caught on film though, very sweet:)

Agreed! Thank u for noting the time.❤

@@louisskulnik7390 he says the names. another one bites the dust and melancholy blues

@@louisskulnik7390he says when they first start playing

He is sweet, and handsome😊 His smile is so adorable❤

@@una9121 oh, I skipped around as is my wont.

@@paolaamadeo774 I just looked her up and it looks like she's started a podcast on youtube!

Do you know the name of her podcast? Would like to check it out

If you find it could you please also share it to me, it sounds really interesting

@@loafcat4831 posted above!! :)

@@ohemdoublegee where :)

i love this comment so so much ! so beautifully expressed

​@@claudiahowick agreed!

Ever seen the movie k-pax?

That’s what I was thinking!

It makes sense that his name is Gabe since that’s the name of an angel

Hello Kristine, Can I ask you a question?

Família?😢

He did not "bolt up." He just stares at the guy and has zero expression on his face.

@Brice It's such a shame that you and a lot of the people who can communicate are such douches for no reason.

@@seajay632 Maybe you should work on that.

@@officerjimlahey Lol ratio.

yes true! I love seeing such positivity

Очень красивый мальчик, похож на принца 😊❤

It's because you too are a sweet soul, thank you for sharing your kindness. 😇

You probably a big softie 😺

thats really cute actually

That's cute...wish I had an autistic sibling like that..

@@ashleyrodriguez2050I have an autistic sibling but he isn’t non-verbal. I will say he is really sweet though

Amazing idea I agree. I think he would absolutely love it.

Boost! That sounds amazing

I also love synths. They are amazing for stimming. Like top tier

What a fantastic idea. I hope his parents read this

I have a dj friend with a nonverbal son and he LOVES synths. He samples sounds from the neighborhood and from videos he watches throughout the day. It totally occupies him and he is creating something great!!!

Yeap, it made me feel uncomfortable and anxious, like I kept waiting from him to say something

@@empress2529 you can learn to become comfortable with the silence. It takes work because we've been conditioned to make small talk but it is worth it to learn to be comfortable just being with others.

@@carriehiggins876 It reminds me of our son, he has emotional regulating matters, as a baby eh would up crying as crazy, tantrum, we never knew if he is pain or had a bad dream or was annoyed by something? we hoped hat when he will grow older he will explain himself.... but kids with ADD and with emotional regulation issues they also find it hard to convert events and fleeing into words... thus, we kept not receiving answers until he was much older. Having communication problems is a mayor struggle in humans, because communication is everything for humanity. I think they did not explain enough how they really communicate with him. maybe with hand blind signs? with a computer?

Hello Christina how are you doing today?... hope my message found you in a pleasant way?

@@daviddietrich5104 stop man 💀

@@myheartwillstopinjoy8142 lol he seems to be doing this to all the girls he finds

It gives me hope for humanity. About Chris not the thirsty guy

@@caitlynnestrada87 "not for the thirsty guy" 😂💀

he has one they just didnt give it to him for the video he mostly just asks for food with it, he also has spoken a few words and sang from what ive seen on instagram

I'm an SLP, too, and was wondering exactly the same thing. Doesn't make sense.

@@jodic4823 food is highly reinforcing, but as much as he likes music, I'm sure he could learn to use his aac system to make music requests.

​@@TigerheartedWolf@nicolegottesmann

I thought the same thing as an ex SPED teacher, opportunity for Gabe to express himself, but then I thought, I'm sure they tried 1000's of times, 1000's of ways.

I don't see any "lusting" just people complimenting him

I was also thinking drums, but maybe start with frame drum

At the end of their listening party he made a strumming gesture

he definitely gives off some bassist vibes

He needs mirrors around to help with his self awareness

I was about to comment that. Give my man a bass and get him a good teacher and he would be insane

he fine

He's is so cute.

Yes but maybe word this differently because it can come across as If your babying him

He really seems like someone who's fun to be around 😄

@@livvyyyyyyyyyyy I agree, it’s just a tiny bit infantilizing-

same! most of the video I was trying to figure out who his birth mom was until I came to the conclusion that it doesn't matter anyway cuz they both clearly love him a lot

@@fairygrl999 that's a lovely answer!

I always thought it was the real one, they have the very same gorgeous hair

@@eggchomp Yes, it was the hair that gave it away to me also. Beautiful!

I like that phrase "Bonus Mom". I've never thought of it that way before. Thank you for showing me a new perspective.