Quiet Hands grew out of research the director (Chris Durnall) and I undertook among autistic adults. This research, supported by the Wales Autism Research Centre and the Arts Council of Wales, revealed the alarming prevalence of predatory manipulative bullying of autistic people who lived independently.
Known as ‘mate crime’ (due to its links to disability ‘hate crime’), this under-reported and dangerous phenomenon became the main focus of my second play for Winterlight. The title comes from a common instruction given to autistic children undergoing the Behaviourist therapy known as ABA, in which children are trained to mimic the behaviour of “normal” society and to cut out any of their own behaviours that their therapist (in consultation with their families) deems inappropriate.
This learned compliance can render an autistic person less able to resist the demands of predatory individuals in adulthood.