As I have written within the volume Cosplability, for 20 years in Italy as a non-self-sufficient disabled person with Friedreich's Ataxia, I have lived in a Society that with architectural and mental barriers constantly reminds me how I am the 'unfortunate exception they would like to forget'.

But today, my story takes a different turn.

A new, difficult chapter is asking me to find courage like never before.

Betty, my adoptive mother – a strong, witty, radiant woman loved by so many – was suddenly struck by a violent illness triggered by a simple infection: frontotemporal dementia, causing severe neurocognitive decline.

She is alive, but the incredible woman we all knew is no longer here. She was also my only caregiver, and now everything has reversed overnight: two disabled people (myself with a severe motor disability caring for her needs), both no longer self-sufficient, in a home that does not support us in any way.

I’m not asking for pity.

If you know me, you know I am proud, determined, and stubborn enough to find beauty even in broken places.

I am a writer, I coordinate an art collective, I lead inclusion projects at conventions, and every day I try to show up in the world with clarity and imagination.

But this time, I need real, tangible help to avoid losing everything I have built, and to keep alive the one light that has always guided me: freedom.