Ada is 7. She is an identical twin. She has autism and other developmental and cognitive disabilities. Everything is hard for Ada. She did not walk until she was two. She had two bouts of deafness in her early years. Talking is very challenging for her. She has trouble making the correct sounds and finding the right words to say. She has very limited fine motor skills.

Ada does not learn like I learn or like anyone I know learns. Teaching Ada is a challenge, it take a lot of time, patience, and perseverance on the part of the teacher and Ada. The tests of the traditional educational system identifies Ada as uneducable, but when you work with her (at a good moment) you can see there is potential. It is not the standard potential, it is Ada specific potential.

With all of these strikes against her, Ada has something to teach us all. Ada can teach us “normal” people how to live life to its fullest. When Ada experiences something, whether good or bad (there is no in-between), she experiences it at an extreme level. Her emotion is complete in a way you and I can not experience but would benefit from if we could. I will relate one story to help you understand.

We took Ada, her sister, and her two cousins to the mountains in Colorado in August. We spent time river fishing among other things. All four little girls had fishing poles and were learning to river fish. Ada really struggled with the patience required to fish. Her cousin caught the first fish. Everyone was really excited by the fish, but nothing in the rest of us compared to Ada’s excitement. When Ada saw the fish coming out of the water she threw her own fishing pole and ran over to where the fish was being landed. She was jumping up and down and screaming hysterically in glee. She could not contain excitement. Every one of the four girls caught a fish on that outing and for every fish caught Ada’s reaction was the same as for the first fish. Two days later the girls fished again and Ada’s reaction to anyone catching a fish had not waned at all. Every time it was total unabridged joy and excitement.

Another adult was with us on this trip. He had never really spent any time with Ada before this. He said that he is sure that Ada was expressing his same feelings about catching a fish, but he keeps these feeling contained inside. I am not sure he is right. I believe Ada experiences life in a way the rest of us can not understand but would benefit from (for a least a day). Ada has a lot to teach us all about life and love.