School Uses Shock Therapy on Autistic Students: Constructive or Cruel?
SodaHead News
2012/05/23 13:00:00
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The Judge Rotenberg Center, a special needs school in Massachusetts, is facing major controversy this week as information about the school's shock therapy program come to light. According to CNN, a student was treated for post traumatic stress disorder after receiving 31 electric shocks in a seven hour period. Officials were apparently trying to hide video footage of the shocking treatment, but was recently required to reveal it.
Other parents say the school is saving lives. One mother claims the shock treatment helped her son immensely, and calls the school a "godsend." Critics aren't so sure. Some call it torture. A group of opponents are even organizing a protest called Occupy JRC, to be held on June 2. It will include a wide range of speakers, from parents to disability advocates. But do you think shock therapy could be constructive?
Other parents say the school is saving lives. One mother claims the shock treatment helped her son immensely, and calls the school a "godsend." Critics aren't so sure. Some call it torture. A group of opponents are even organizing a protest called Occupy JRC, to be held on June 2. It will include a wide range of speakers, from parents to disability advocates. But do you think shock therapy could be constructive?
I'm no professional ... but it would seem to me shock therapy should only be done by a doctor ... teachers are there to teach, not harm!
1st, where are the shocks applied?
2nd, how much electricity is being sent through?
There are tons of different shock treatments for a wide variety of problems. If it's just a low voltage shock I'd be in favor of it if it works with no damage. Almost all sports use different types of shock treatments for different ailments and this could be very similar. Some autistic kids just be freaking out because they think it might be harmful but it could be helping them. In other words, more information is needed.
Plus, the fact is, there is no doctor present controlling the voltage & duration of the "treatment" sessions. The behavior of the staff is also indicative of abuse, regardless of whether ECT is used or not. These individuals are unbelievably unprofessional, not to mention immature & irresponsible.
I thought I'd go through the roof of my car!
Thank gawd I still had enough wherewithal to just stop. I simply couldn't do much more. It hurt like hell & scared the hell out of me.
Tense units are likely different from this shocking process. But even a tense unit can cause pain.
I don't know how people get into using those damned things for sex.
Plus, being tied up for seven hours on your face on a board, without toilette breaks, without food or water... we do that in Guantanamo & other military prisons to captives... not even to our own citizens in prison.
This is beneath contemptible. They're children & we wouldn't dream of doing that to a fully functioning adult unless they were under interrogation process by the government.
The kid is autistic, for gawd's sake.
If you beat on you kids for 7 hours, then yes. You need to be locked up. Spankings do not harm a child permanently except for their pride and their bottom,lots of judges,lawyers and other professionals grew up with spankings and they turned out fine.
Look at kids now who have grown up under the umbrella of the no-spank zone. They are rude,obnoxious, no manners.What they are doing with this shock therapy is not that, it is inflicting an inordinate amount of pain upon a person that does not even perceive the world in a way that allows them to process it so that they can make the connection between the pain and what they did wrong.They are using this for purposes to get the child to do what their education as special needs professionals should enable them to do. This is nothing more than treating these kids like a dog with a shock collar that is set to go off when the animal crosses the property line.
"What voltage was used? We don't have exact numbers,Your Honor. It varies with size and weight of the subject. We just turn it up until the subject jerks around like a death row inmate in the electric chair."
Then when it looks like this Dr. Israel is going to pay for his sick visions of treatment for autistics with some jail time, he will turn state's evidence and throw the rest of them under the bus.
Brilliant!!!
I agree w/ ya totally.. Just the other day I had some dumb ass liberal go after my Avatar and username because he couldn't beat me on the political level.. He went off saying how evil I was and that my credibility couldn't mount to anything.. Then I asked him if he actually knew the real history of it, and how far back in history does the name actually goes.. And, after I showed him he had to actually shut up.. LOL.. apparently, he watches to much TV and not enough history channel..
And as for this story/poll.. Well, I agree w/ you there really isn't enough information to say cruel or constructive.. Nice job on the reporting once again SH thread creator..
Okay, this isn't the specific report I saw, but it addresses some of your questions.
Here's more. I highly recommend watching the whole video:
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/20...
I have yet to say I support it, but rather I need more information.
"The shock administered is both painful and dangerous. The first generation of the GED administers 15.5 milliamps RMS of electricity for approximately 2 seconds – with a peak intensity of 30 milliamps. The GED-4 is approximately 3 times stronger than the original shock machine developed by Israel for children whose behavior cannot be controlled by the GED or who have become inured to the pain. It delivers 45.0 milliamps RMS for 2 seconds, with a peak intensity of 91 milliamps. According to the JRC website, they are now developing a third, more painful iteration of the GED."
"'...The level of shock is unbelievable, very painful .... No other class of citizen in the United States could be subjected to this. You could not do this to a convicted felon.' – MDRI interview with psychologist who visited JRC on behalf of the New York State Department of Education"
"Additionally, children are shackled, restrained and secluded for months at a time. Social isolation and food deprivation as punishment is common. Mock and threatened stabbings – to forcibly elicit unacceptable behaviors which then result in electric shock punishments (known as Behavioral Research Lessons or BRLs) - have been reported to MDRI and state regulatory bodies as well.
'The worst thing e...
"The shock administered is both painful and dangerous. The first generation of the GED administers 15.5 milliamps RMS of electricity for approximately 2 seconds – with a peak intensity of 30 milliamps. The GED-4 is approximately 3 times stronger than the original shock machine developed by Israel for children whose behavior cannot be controlled by the GED or who have become inured to the pain. It delivers 45.0 milliamps RMS for 2 seconds, with a peak intensity of 91 milliamps. According to the JRC website, they are now developing a third, more painful iteration of the GED."
"'...The level of shock is unbelievable, very painful .... No other class of citizen in the United States could be subjected to this. You could not do this to a convicted felon.' – MDRI interview with psychologist who visited JRC on behalf of the New York State Department of Education"
"Additionally, children are shackled, restrained and secluded for months at a time. Social isolation and food deprivation as punishment is common. Mock and threatened stabbings – to forcibly elicit unacceptable behaviors which then result in electric shock punishments (known as Behavioral Research Lessons or BRLs) - have been reported to MDRI and state regulatory bodies as well.
'The worst thing ever was the BRLs. They try and make you do a bad behavior and then they punish you. The first time I had a BRL, two guys came in the room and grabbed me – I had no idea what was going on. They held a knife to my throat and I started to scream and I got shocked. I had BRL‟s three times a week for stuff I didn‟t even do. It went on for about six months or more. I was in a constant state of paranoia and fear. I never knew if a door opened if I would get one. It was more stress than I could ever imagine. Horror.' – MDRI interview with former JRC student"
"Children and adults at JRC are routinely subject to electric shock, receiving multiple skin shocks on their legs, arms, hands, feet, fingers and torsos for behaviors such as getting out of their seats, making noises, swearing or not following staff directions. The homemade shock devices, invented by the school‘s founder, Matthew Israel, and manufactured at the school, are carried by students in backpacks with electrodes attached to their skin. The shock is administered remotely by minimally trained staff – some with only two weeks of training. Students never know when they will receive a jolt or where on their body they will be shocked. Some children are subjected to dozens of shocks over the course of a day. The April 2009 report by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Retardation (DMR), found that of the 109 children subjected to electric skin shocks, 48 had been receiving the shocks for 5 years or more.
For 16 years, nearly half her life, Janine has been hooked up to Israel‟s device. A couple of years ago, when the shocks began to lose their effect, the staff switched the devices inside her backpack to the much more painful GED-4. – Jennifer Gonnerman, author of School of Shock, Mother Jones Magazine
'It is imperative that JRC devise a protocol for reassessing the effectiveness of the aversive interventions [shock, restraint] once they have been tried for 5 years with only limited effectiveness...' – April 2009 report Massachusetts DMR
I got the shocks for swearing, saying no, leaving a supervised area without asking and even for popping a pimple- any non-compliant behavior. I had one [electrode] on each arm, one on each leg and one around my waist. It is the worst pain, like a third degree burn. They tell people it feels like a bee sting but they lie. – MDRI interview with former student
When you start working there, they show you this video which says the shock is “like a bee sting” and that it does not really hurt the kids. One kid, you could smell the flesh burning, he had so many shocks. These kids are under constant fear, 24/7. They sleep with them on, eat with them on. It made me sick and I could not sleep. I prayed to God someone would help these kids. – MDRI interview with former JRC teacher
One time I was visiting my son and I saw the other students with the backpacks on. It really pained my heart. One child got a shock and then the others started to scream and cry. They were scared, and they were cringing. They were waiting for their turn. – MDRI interview with mother of former student"
Everyone has different pain thresholds and fear can and will create more pain sometimes.