PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) - Even before he was diagnosed with autism while in kindergarten, Luke Gebbink’s life’s journey wasn’t without its hurdles.
Before entering preschool, Gebbink lost the ability to speak and had to relearn how to piece phrases together.
Words, however, never came easy as the young Gebbink - who also was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety disorder - struggled to come to grips with the fast-paced and confusing world he found himself navigating.
“All through school, Luke had many challenges, emotionally and socially,” said his mother Rae Deane Gebbink. “Being anxious was a big issue for him and when you’re trying to learn social skills while coping with anxiety, you end up with a lot of behavioral-type things that go with it.”
To help their son become more socially developed, Rae Deane and her husband Shane “tried to involve him in as many things as we could, both through the schools and outside agencies, like STARS Spectrum, which works on social and life skills for kids with high-functioning autism,” Rae Deane Gebbink explained.
And there were hours of various types of therapy as Gebbink worked through his issues, including an aversion to loud noises, bright lights and changes to his daily routine.
One of the activities the Gebbinks encouraged their son to pursue was athletics. On the field, the young Gebbink began to discover a new kind of therapy that would come to open doors to his brave new world.
It was in middle school that Gebbink embraced the rigorous sport of cross-country running, a love that blossomed once he enrolled at Centennial High School.
“Individual sports like track and cross-country are really important for kids with autism,” Rae Deane Gebbink said. “A lot of these kids struggle with the teamwork and group socialization.
“But what it does help provide is a social network and support system.”
And the head of that vital system was Ron Garcia, Centennial’s track and field coach whose guidance and mentoring Rae Deane Gebbink characterizes as life-changing.
“Coach Garcia: That’s where Luke’s social growth is rooted. It was because of Ron that Luke found confidence and acceptance,” she said. “Luke was always good in academics, but that social piece was missing.
“It was Ron who really helped create that environment where Luke felt safe and was able to build friendships and have a support system.”
It also was Garcia who nominated Gebbink for the John Lynch Foundation Exceptional Star of the Year Award and scholarship, annually awarded to young men and women with disabilities.
Only one of four Colorado students to receive the honor and $5,000 endowment this year, Gebbink and his parents enjoyed a private dinner with Lynch and his family in the visitors’ locker room at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
There, Gebbink and the former Denver Broncos strong safety and current general manager of the San Francisco 49ers sat next to each other, discussing Gebbink’s love of video games and programming.
“Meeting John Lynch was a really cool experience,” said Gebbink. “He’s a lot more down-to-earth than I expected.
“But I was surprised to get the scholarship. There were 20 other kids stronger and way beefier than me and I was like, ‘Nope, I’m not getting it.’ “
In handing out the scholarships, Lynch noted that the endowments are usually used for expenses related to therapy.
“But this year was the first that all the students with disabilities will be attending college,” Rae Deane Gebbink noted.
A gold cord graduate who left Centennial with a collection of academic and athletic letters and a four-year stint in JROTC, Gebbink has enrolled at Colorado State University-Pueblo, where he will pursue computer-related studies in the fall.
“There’s nowhere in Pueblo I can major in video-game design, so that’s pretty close,” he said of CSU-Pueblo’s computer curriculum.
As her son sets out to write the next chapter of his life’s story, the last one is still fresh in Rae Deane Gebbink’s mind.
“My husband and I went to Centennial’s senior breakfast at the end of the year,” she said. “And I can’t begin to tell you how many kids were like, ‘Hey Luke!’ and high-fiving him. He was sitting with the popular kids.
“When he first started at Centennial, Coach Garcia told us he hardly spoke a word. And at the end, they couldn’t get him to shut up.”
As much as anyone, Garcia knows the progress Gebbink has made.
“When he first started cross-country, he couldn’t even go on the bus,” Garcia said. “We didn’t even make it to Pinon and we had an incident and had to call his mom.
“And at the end of this year, we had a six-hour bus trip to Durango, and Luke was hanging out with his teammates and some East Eagles. No issues whatsoever.”
In addition to the Lynch Foundation endowment, Gebbink also earned the Ruskin Family Scholarship awarded through the Centennial Foundation.
“The races I ran were a chance to finally focus on me,” wrote Gebbink in an essay that was part of the scholarship application process. “Giving me a chance to think of the world I lived in, my upcoming studies, or just whatever electronic device I wanted to think about at that point in time.
“Whatever it was, it was almost in near silence except for the sound of my Nikes hitting the loose dirt on the ground …”
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Information from: The Pueblo Chieftain, http://www.chieftain.com
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