In January 2003, we were blessed with a beautiful baby named Gabriel David Miller. Gabe had a ton of dark black hair and was such an easy-going baby. By the time he was 12 months old, we knew something was not right. He was missing many developmental milestones and this concerned us. We had his eyes checked for blindness and ears checked for deafness since he did not look at us or respond to us or his surroundings. His ears and eyes checked out normal. After doing research on the internet about Gabe's developmental delays, the disability that kept popping up was autism. We discussed this with our son's pediatrician and he agreed that Gabe had many autistic tendencies. We were both very upset and scared about Gabe's future and started researching what we could do for Gabe.

At his 18 month checkup, we reported that he was spitting up almost 30 times a day. We had an upper gastrointestinal test done to determine the cause of his vomiting. It was during this test that a doctor saw our son’s x-rays and told us he had a malformed intestine. We later came to find out that intestinal problems are very common among autistic children. We thank God that this doctor saw our son’s x-rays! We learned there was a 50% chance that his intestines could twist and be fatal so a surgeon recommended that we have his intestines repositioned. Gabe then had a 24 hour esophageal pH probe study done to test his acid levels. Based off this test, it was determined he had gastroesophageal reflux disease and surgery would be necessary to control his symptoms. Our son’s pediatrician also requested that while Gabe had this test done, he also have his blood taken and an MRI done to investigate his developmental delays. The MRI came back negative and we were told all the areas of his brain were functioning. We scheduled his surgery and four days before it, we got the earth-shattering news about his blood work. Gabe had a rare chromosome abnormality called Chromosome 15 Trisomy. He was the only child with this exact chromosome abnormality in the medical database and there wasn't much the doctors could tell us about what this meant for Gabe's future. The news was kind of unbelievable, but we had to put it aside and focus on one thing at a time. Fortunately, Gabe’s surgery went well. His reflux was gone and his intestines repositioned. The risk of them twisting in his lifetime has been lowered to 5%. We were relieved that our son's health problems were better, but at the same time, we were experiencing a roller coaster of emotions about our son's genetic disorder. A year later, to no surprise, Gabe was diagnosed with autism. Our geneticist said most likely the chromosome abnormality is causing the autism, but genetic factors are still being studied to determine this link.

So our parenting experience took a very different turn and we found ourselves on a path of uncertainty. The only thing we knew for sure was that we were going to do whatever we could to help our son. After participating in our school district's early intervention services and early childhood preschool, we realized Gabe needed more specialized instruction because autistic children do not learn the same way other children do. He needed more one-on-one intensive instruction. The research we had done said the best time to try and ‘rewire’ a child’s brain is from 3 to 6 years. This is the time they are most susceptible to learning and retaining. We also researched the different therapy methods being used and consulted several doctors and we agreed that the best option for Gabe was applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy. This kind of instruction focuses on changing behavior patterns. The objectives are teaching a child new skills and reducing inappropriate behaviors. Each skill or task introduced is taught step by step with prompts that are faded over time and tons of reinforcement so the child will repeat the correct responses and be successful.

We quickly found out that the autism services being provided in Nebraska were lacking. This was very frustrating. Fortunately the autism parent network is very strong in Nebraska and we were able to find several college students who could help us start and run an in-home therapy program based on applied behavior analysis. Gabe started his program in June of 2006 when he was 3 1/2 years old and we haven't looked back. Gabe made more progress in his first two months of therapy than he did in a year of preschool. This is because his instruction is being tailored to his learning style and educational needs. We enjoy celebrating every success Gabe has, no matter how big or small it is!!

Gabe's progress told us that we had made the right decision for him, and now we needed to figure out how to pay for his program. We knew it was going to be expensive, but worth every penny. Gabe's program costs almost $40,000 a year. We first cashed in an investment we had and that money has paid for his program since June of 2006. That money will be gone after February 2007. Although we have tried to attain outside help, we are currently not receiving any funding from the state, our school district, or our insurance company. We have also talked to several local charities, but they do not help with therapy funding issues like ours. We did not realize it was going to be this hard to get funding help. We quickly learned that many families find it impossible to pay for a program of this cost so they either try to raise the money or don't do it. Denying Gabe one-on-one treatment is simply not an option for us. The more consistent intensive treatment he receives now at this critical age of development, the more he will learn and the better chance he has at someday being able to live independently and be a contributing member of society. So we decided to try and raise the money to fund his program. This is how Gabe's Gang was created.

Even though we don't know what the future holds for Gabe, we remain optimistic about the possibilities. We don't know if our son will ever be able to talk, make friends, take mainstream classes in school, get a high school diploma, go to college, or hold a job. What we do know is this: our son deserves a fighting chance just like any other child in this world. His best chance at achieving any of these things is to keep receiving intensive treatment and we will do everything we can to make this happen.

Gabe has been the greatest teacher in our lives. He has taught us the true meaning of patience, acceptance, and unconditional love. He has also given new meaning to the words determination and perseverance. While we are very lucky that Gabe does not have any serious life threatening medical issues, autism is still a daily struggle for our family. Autism can be very overwhelming at times, but even so, nothing makes us more happy than Gabe. God truly blessed us by giving us such a wonderful son. We enjoy him so much. He is a very happy child and seeing him smile and hearing him laugh are gifts that we cherish. We love Gabe very much and are very proud of him. He is working so hard to improve his quality of life. His therapists call him a superstar. We call him our hero.

Ronny and Jenn Miller, Gabe's parents


Gabe has significant delays in language and social skills. He can not talk. He has learned a few sign language signs and makes several babbling sounds, but a lot of the time he lets us know what he wants by using our hands as 'tools' and pulling us to what he wants and pushing our hands toward the item. Gabe does not point or make gestures. Gabe's eye contact and focus have increased since he's been in therapy, but both still need a lot of work. He rarely comes when his name is called, but if we start to play with one of his beloved musical toys, he hears that just fine and will come running. Even though Gabe does not say any words, his therapists do a lot of different activities that are helping him learn and understand the meanings of words. He is learning about animals, foods, clothing items, household items including furniture, letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and more. We are constantly impressed by what words Gabe shows that he understands during therapy.

We have had very little issues with resistance to change in his schedule. He might try to eat his fist if put dinner off by an hour, but he does not get upset because his schedule is off. We have also been fortunate that Gabe does not throw the kind of terrible temper tantrums we know some autistic children are capable of. When Gabe is frustrated, he might start pulling at his hair or fake cough to show his displease, but he does not try to injure himself or others and we are thankful for that. Gabe is a very easy-going child. During his first 12 months of life, the thing we heard the most was what a serious baby Gabe was hardly ever smiling or cooing. Over time, we figured out what makes Gabe smile and giggle. He loves funny noises and we don't care where we are or who is around us, we will make these funny noises whenever we want to. If you heard his awesome laugh, you would do the same. As for cuddling, Gabe does not really seek us out for affection but he does not mind that his family is constantly hugging and kissing him. He even kisses back. Usually it's because he thinks he might get something for doing it, but we don't care. We'll take his sweet kisses any way we can get them. Showing Gabe affection is one of our favorite things to do.

Gabe cannot read people's emotions at all. We could be crying or screaming in pain and Gabe would have no idea something is wrong. He can not read people's facial expressions or body language. Gabe has a hard time understanding and making sense of the people and things around him. This is probably why he lacks eye contact. Who would want to look at things they did not understand? He is much more comfortable looking at his toys and other inanimate objects that are not confusing to his little brain. Gabe has no desire to play with other children. He is fine playing by himself. There was a time he would sit for hours playing by himself never once trying to seek us out to share in his joy or to get our help. And he would often not play with his toys appropriately. He has an obsession with spinning objects. He would spin the wheels on his toy cars over and over never once trying to push them along. Now because of his therapy, Gabe is learning how to play with his toys appropriately and that interacting with people is a good thing. The first time he sought us out to play with him was amazing. He grabbed our hands and pulled us over to his toy and pushed our hand towards it. He did not need help turning it on, he just wanted us to activate the toy with him. We did and he laughed. Then he made the music play. Then he grabbed our hands again and thrust them towards the toy and we made the music play again. We did this over and over for 15 minutes. We were sharing our attention and taking turns, two things autistic children have a hard time doing. Gabe still has a long way to go in this area, but we are excited about these kind of special moments with our son.

Children learn through imitation but Gabe, and many other autistic children, do not imitate others. Imitation does not come natural for Gabe because it involves social interaction so this is an area his therapists put a lot of focus on. We get very excited when we see Gabe imitating a therapist stacking blocks or pounding a toy hammer. We know it took a lot of hard work and repetition to get Gabe to learn those skills so we do not take anything he does for granted. Gabe is also not socially aware of many things children enjoy such as holidays or birthdays. He did not get excited about Santa and there was no sparkle in his eyes when we opened his presents for him. It is hard for him to focus on all the comings and goings of Christmas. He did not know it was his birthday in January or why there were other kids at his house playing with his toys. He is also not aware of dangers such as running into the street or going up to a stranger. Gabe enjoys climbing on everything and you will often hear us say "Child, you have no fear". That is not a good thing. We can't leave the room too long because we never know what we'll come back to find Gabe trying to do; what he might be standing on, falling off or tipping over. For a long time, Gabe ignored our two cats. It was just part of his lack of awareness and interest in his surroundings, as well as his sensory issue with the cat's fur. Now Gabe is starting to look at his surroundings more. Now he looks at the cats and tries to get near them. You will often hear him laughing while our one cat Smokey Joe is rubbing against him begging for his head to be rubbed. Gabe has to settle for just chasing our other cat Potatoes because she is not as willing to go near him. She has her own issues with socializing. Gabe's sensory issues with fur is still present, but we see him making an effort to touch the cats more than we ever did before.

Gabe has delays in his fine and gross motor skills. He did not walk consistently without falling until he was two years old. Not only did he have issues with motor skills, but also motor planning and body awareness as well. He would try so hard to walk, but you could see he was not sure where to put his feet and where he was in terms of the walls of the room. He would often run into things while he was trying to figure out his feet and legs. To put this another way, if we need A,B, C, and D to walk, it was like Gabe was missing B, and that one missing piece created big obstacles for him. Gabe works on his gross motor skills in therapy and he has learned how to do things like wave bye bye, clap his hands, give high five, kick a ball, and stack blocks. These are all things he could not do when he first started therapy. Gabe works on his fine motor delays in therapy as well by doing puzzles and shape sorters. Gabe can not feed himself independently, but he is making a lot of progress in this area. He has sensory issues with touching food so we focus on using utensils. Gabe can not dress himself independently either and is not potty-trained. These are areas his therapists are working on too. He is getting better at putting his shirt on every week. Gabe definitely knows what his shoes are and where they go. He always wants to go outside. He will bring us a shoe, sit down, and raise a foot in the air.

So this is a small view of how Gabe's autism affects him. Gabe is so much more than his autism though. We admit that at first it was hard to see Gabe beyond his disorder. Autism and the things that are wrong can consume you, and we soon realized that this was not the way we wanted to live our lives. We would rather be consumed by love, hope, faith and the celebration of everything Gabe is and does, not what he can't do. He is an amazing little boy and we are so proud of his accomplishments in therapy. Despite all the challenges he is facing, he is a very happy, active child.

Here are some of Gabe's favorite things that make him happy: