It’s not just female survivors of abuse who find the workshops helpful. Michael, who was diagnosed with autism six years ago, suffered years of sexual abuse as a teenager, inflicted by a man who was employed to care for him. As well as suffering from PTSD and mental health problems, Michael’s experiences mean he finds it incredibly difficult to interact with other men, to the extent that he says he cannot be alone with another male. The initial reason he came to a Cuddle Workshop was simply to get a hug: “At times of extremes stress I find it very helpful to have a cuddle, but before I heard of the workshops there weren’t many options of how I would get one of those.” Michael describes how he was “on a high” for two weeks after his first class and, when working with a female attendee, has no problem saying yes during the exercises: “Because I don’t say no, people have to push the boundaries, so they do things like put their finger up my nose or pull on my ears.” However, when it comes to partnering with a male member of the class, Michael is, unsurprisingly, much less open. “It’s very, very different working with men. My map of where I’m prepared to touch is much more limited – hands, forearms, shoulder, neck, head – places you’d considered to be public.” It might seem like a small step but, considering the workshops were the first time Michael had had any physical interaction with other men since his abuse, it’s impressive progress.