“I had spent the three years following Andrea’s diagnosis trying to understand, experiment, and learn about as many alternatives as possible that could be useful for his rehabilitation journey. From the very beginning, it was clear to me that this child would never be like other children, and that his severe disability would accompany him throughout his life. As a parent, I could—first and foremost—love him, and immediately afterward, I could ensure that this love did not remain solely an intimate and emotional experience, but instead translated into actions and concrete steps.

Among the many experiences of those years—traveling, visits, and therapies, both in Italy and abroad—the encounter with the Conductive Education method had an immediate and profound impact on us: I saw Andrea being encouraged toward directions and goals that had never been proposed to him before, and for my part, I finally felt on the same wavelength as those caring for him. The approach to rehabilitation and re-education offered by the Conductors addressed the doubts and questions I had always carried and helped me find the clarity I needed to approach my child’s disability myself.

For this reason, once the need to find a clear path and regularize a lifestyle that had been too 'nomadic' for too long became evident, I had no doubt that the choice for Andrea at that stage of his development—and for the years to come—had to be Conductive Education. Unlike in other countries, where this method is widely practiced, at the time there was only one center in Italy, very far from us, so the only option was to organize the therapy locally. After an initial phase of individual work, the enthusiasm grew to the point of creating in me a strong need to share information with other families facing the same challenges. From there, the step to deciding to create an Association was short, and in 2012 the Orizzonte Autonomia Onlus Association was founded, which in March 2024 became a Foundation."

Giulia Fesce, Founder and President