Super Gabriel

"He's pretty much the coolest kid in the world. He saved my life, that's for sure. His story is one of happiness. At only 2 years old, he has overcome more than I have in my 22 years of life.  There's only one name for a person so strong...Hero." - Super Gabriel's Mom

Super Gabriel

Louisiana

In August 2010, an Extraordinary TinySuperhero was born in Louisiana to a superhero mom and dad.  Meet Super Gabriel!

When Gabriel was born, he had a heart murmur, a hernia on his umbilical tract, acid reflux, and jaundice.  By 4 months old he had RSV, sleep apnea, and fluid on the left side of his brain. By Gabriel's first year, he had more of less recovered from all of these complications, but to his family's surprise, their complex and blessed journey with their TinySuperhero had just begun!

During his first two years, Gabriel's development fell behind the expected schedule, and he began to withdrawal. One of his first super powers was revealed when he stacked a set up cups nearly perfectly in seconds! His parents were amazed, and began to investigate what made their TinySuperhero different.

Just days after Super Gabriel's second birthday, he was 'distinguished' with autism. "Like I told his daddy, he wasn't 'diagnosed'. He was 'distinguished'. He's not sick, he's exceptional."

Super Gabriel was pretty lucky to be born to superhero parents. His mom was 19 years old when he was born. Aware of the social stereotype assigned to young mothers, she wanted to show the world that at 19 years old, a woman like her could love, care for, and raise an exceptional child. She even started a blog, "Souls Never Wrinkle", to document the journey. Before she knew she would give birth to an Extraordinary TinySuperhero, Super Gabriel's mom was ready to love him and give him an amazing life. Certainly the super powers that accompany Gabriel's autism are challenging, but his superhero parents have given everything to help him succeed and enhance his super powers.

Since his second birthday, Gabriel continues his TinySuperhero life. He LOVES Toy Story and is great friends with Woody and Buzz, thinks everything is hilarious in the middle of the night, prefers watching only the first 3 minutes of his DVDs, would paint the world red if he could, prefers his diet to consist entirely of Vanilla Gerber Puffs, is magnetized to water, and thinks that cars and trucks - especially when driving fast - are amazing. Sure his super powers come with anxiety, stress, and caution for his mom and dad, but they smile when he's laughing at 4am, they've learned to love the first three minutes of Yo Gabba Gabba, and regarding Woody and Buzz - his mom says "Those guys have helped us through a lot". 

Super Gabriel's mom set out to write a blog about raising a child as a young mom. Instead, she's writing an amazing blog about raising an Extraordinary TinySuperhero. One of the biggest challenges of raising Gabriel is the public perception of behaviors that accompany Autism. We hope to help Gabriel's family show the world how beautiful these children are, and to teach that some things have to be handled differently with TinySuperheroes like Super Gabriel - and that is okay!

"We do not lead a normal life. We lead an extraordinary life."