Is Leisure Time Really Free?

«What does a family do when their child has a complex disability and they want to go out for pizza one evening? Most likely, to spare themselves any trouble or complication, they'll order it delivered at home.» Sister Veronica Donatello, head of the Italian Bishops' Conference office for pastoral care of people with disabilities, poses this question to her audience at a seminar. Then answers bluntly: she knows countless such families, and her conclusion, while grim, is reasonable. What's less reasonable is to assume that leisure time is truly free for someone with a disability and their family. Her observation fed into a larger theme—one that seemed only tangentially related—discussed during the presentation of findings from a survey conducted by Cbm Italia (Child Blind Mission) and Fondazione Zancan on poverty and disability in Italy. An innovative study—the first to examine the correlation between these two dimensions in our country, and novel in its methodology—it reveals, starkly, a poverty of relationships (at every level, public and private) more than an economic one. During that event, held at the Archives of the Presidential Palace, we also heard testimony from two of the three hundred families surveyed. A mother from Rome and another from Aversa spoke. Their experiences differed in detail but were bound together by autism—twin daughters in the first case, twin sons in the second. Both described how essential inclusive social spaces are, to avoid remaining trapped «in a gilded cage, to escape the weight of others' stares» or to «not lose sight of yourself,» wholly consumed by the needs of your children. Listen to their voice, «a cry that often goes unheard» from those at risk of turning inward: a revolution also means a different evening—whether it's pizza, theater, or coffee.