The first few times I walked with Valentina through the crowded pews during Mass, I noticed something: not every corner of the church held her attention equally. Valentina is an eleven-year-old girl with the refined features of one of Modigliani's painted women. She loves music and the sea deeply. She does not speak and cannot use her hands except for a few stereotyped movements, but she walks readily enough—which is a real blessing, because her condition often makes walking difficult. Valentina has been diagnosed with Rett syndrome, a disorder that strikes girls in particular and appears around the first year of life, erasing the progress they have made until that point.
So when the singing lulls during Mass, Valentina grows restless. She wants to get up and move around. Her gaze seems light, drifting, not settling on any one thing in particular. To understand what interests her, you ask a yes-or-no question and associate it with her right and left hand. Valentina shows what she wants by resting her hand on one side—or more often, by fixing her eyes on one of the two choices. She uses the same system with AAC images, especially at school. You cannot make her stop and look unless something truly captures her attention, like music.
I discover that Valentina has two favorite places in the church. The first makes perfect sense: in front of the guitars when they are playing. The second is less obvious. She stops before a beautiful icon of the Madonna and Child. There, her gaze becomes steady and level, whether she is serious or smiling, and it is clear that she is watching intently. Her mother, Elisabetta, reads Valentina's behavior with almost perfect understanding. She tells me how drawn Valentina is to works of art, especially paintings. Some time ago they went together to the Vatican Museums, and they were able to linger in the Sistine Chapel without the usual rush to move on. Valentina spent about half an hour with her head tilted back, deliberately looking up at Michelangelo's vault. She probably would have stayed longer. Michelangelo captivated her. And she made it clear she savored every moment. She answered his masterpiece with her gaze.