Kate’s dissertation, “Mermaid Without a Tale: Disability, Sexuality, and the Limits of Discourse (1975-2009),” theorizes the potential for disabled authorship in Italian fiction and autobiography, which she argues cannot be thought separately from issues of sexuality and gender. Her work reveals the extent to which non-normative reading, writing, and speaking practices imply – or even necessitate – non-normative sexual practices as well.In her broader research, she seeks to outline the tenets of a specifically Italian brand of disability studies, the first results of which are put forward in her article, “From Superabilità to Transabilità: Towards an Italian Disability Studies,” in Modern Italy 19.2 (June 2014).