Gabi swings with her 17-year-old adoptive brother, Donovan, in the family's back yard.

On a swing set in her back yard, Gabi soars to the sky, kicking up her feet and screeching in delight.
"Look how high I am!" she yells out.
On the next swing is her adopted brother, Donovan, who has stuffed his large frame into a swing. The blind, autistic teen with cerebral palsy rocks gently back and forth, sipping apple juice from a plastic cup.
Gabi is happiest outside, where she can demonstrate her physical prowess and play with her dog, Frances, a retired trained guide dog.
"Gabi has the mobility of a 6-year-old," Hoeft said. "She could climb before she could sit up."
But cognitively, the fearless child has the skills of a 2 1/2-year-old.
"Gabi just doesn't understand consequences," Hoeft said.
Last New Year's Day, Gabi was playing in the back yard when she discovered the gate was open a crack. She slipped out and ran down the alley.
By the time she stopped running, she was seven blocks from home and hopelessly lost. Strangers came to her aid, but she couldn't tell them her name or where she lived. Luckily, Hoeft, who was searching the neighborhood, found the child.