John Johnson was a Ph.D. student at Rutgers University in 2009 when, while taking a class led by Anna Stubblefield—the director of the philosophy department, who was teaching in the American Studies Doctoral Program—he saw a movie about facilitated communication.
Designed to help non-verbal mentally disabled men and women converse and express themselves, the technique involves having impaired people use keyboards or target boards to articulate what they can’t, all with the assistance of instructors who hold their arms or hands to compensate for their physical shakiness. The idea is that, with this revolutionary support, the mentally disabled can say what they really think, unhindered by their bodily limitations. This struck John as a potential course of action for his brother Derrick, who was born with severe cerebral palsy that rendered him unable to speak or walk without assistance, and he asked Anna about it.
Since the nearest treatment facility was 250 miles away in Syracuse, New York, Anna—who had experience working with the disabled but was no expert in this practice—agreed to do some initial testing with Derrick on her own. “She was going to move mountains, and I accepted her at her word,” says Derrick’s mother, Daisy, in Tell Them You Love Me . Instead, what her family got was a nightmare that ended in a courtroom.
Tell Them You Love Me (June 14, on Netflix ) is the riveting true story of Anna and Derrick, whose relationship began with noble intentions.