School Uses Shock Therapy on Autistic Students: Constructive or Cruel?

Thank you for simplifying my response, but this is the true question: who is really ill here? The patient or the so-called "care-giver"? To take an act that induces pain, often on a unwitting patient (it happens, I know, I've seen it) and call it "therapy" irritates me greatly. Why? Because I understand empathy. I have worked with autistic people in the past, both children and adults. Many of them made enormous progress through loving, patient and kind acts in a matter of two to three years. Sometimes less than that. Many who would not have spoken throughout their entire lifetime came to speak or to write with only the effort of a caring mentor. No shock therapy was needed, but patience, endurance, and most importantly genuine love. Scripture tells us that we are to love all people as they are, because they are God's children. God does not promise that all people who have mental disorders will be healed, but he does instruct us to love all people (and that includes those with mental disorders). Romans 13:8&10 states "You should owe nothing to anyone, except that you will always owe love to each other. The person who loves others has done all that the Law commands... Love doesn't hurt others. So loving is the same as obeying all the Law."

Genuine "good" acts cannot come from acts of evil, even if the outward intent appears as good, because "a good tree does not produce bad fruit. And a bad tree does not produce good fruit... What people say with their mouths comes from what is in their hearts." Luke 7:43&45b. Those aren't my words, but I have learned the truth of it: God wants everyone to be saved, and he wants us to be rich in the fullness of His love.

Those words weren't mine, btw. Maybe you meant my usage, I'm not sure, but since you say you don't need a sermon, then I suppose there is no need for me to explain the greater message that those words really convey, so my simplistic usage should have sufficed. But as to your explanation, would you say that it is better to teach a child verbally that his hand can be burned on a burner on a stove, or to place his hand on a stove and say "see the burner burns" or to give the child room to place his own hand on a burner and be burnt through his own experience? All three would be effective methods to teach the same thing, but which one is most appropiate? I do not believe that shock therapy is one of the best methods to deal with any issue, including depression. As I stated before, one of its major side effects is "memory loss!" Other side effects include hallucinations and inability to engage in activities once enjoyed. Whether temporary or not, that is akin to torture in my opinion. Antidepressants if used properly (along with therapy) are often quite effective, if you have a therapist who is in the long run committed to your well-being. In fact, I am quite certain that aside from the Lord, CBT was most effective in my learning to live with what was previously dignosed as "Clinical Depression." I now take only paxil, and though I now understand that it was God who really changed my life, He brought me to therapists who were understanding, loving and committed to my goal of becoming well again. My depression episodes were daily, usually 8 to 10 hours a day. Now, that I have been through CBT sessions, my depression episodes are only once or twice a month, because therapy helped me to get to the root of my problem, and helped me to understand that I could become the master of my own thought habits again. I still have anxiety attacks once in a while in public places, but now I am able to go into public and deal with that without much difficulty even without medication. ECT is sometimes used for autism by the way. Though I understand that its use for autism is currently rare, some doctors are looking at the possibility of treating children with autism with ECT in the future (by the way, some already do, with the consent of the care-giver). According to the Washington Post: "There are recent speculations that certain types of autism may be the earliest expression of catatonia and that both disorders have identical risk factors. Therefore, ECT may improve autism and, if started early enough, may prevent further development of autistic symptoms in some children." Sounds good, right? But the Post is in truth probably reciting what an ECT supporting doctor said in that article. I don't think a Post editor is an expert on therapy of autistic patients.

[I will comment on the video after viewing it.]