Autistic kids subjected to shock treatment at Mass. School

The Boston-area special needs school, which is called the Judge Rotenberg Center, enrolls students ages 3 to adult, all of whom are either autistic kids or are struggling with severe emotional, behavioral or psychiatric disorders. Those students who display undesirable behavior, according to ABC News, are subjected to a treatment which the United Nations is calling “torture.” Judge Rotenberg students are all subject to shock treatment.

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‘Aversive therapy’ for autistic kids not torture, claims JRC

Calling the JRC’s treatment of autistic kids in extreme situations torture is akin to calling a physician using a scalpel on a patient assault with a deadly weapon, claim JRC representatives. They claim that shock treatment in short bursts is humane when in contrast to the alternatives of either allowing emotionally disturbed or even autistic kids to cause themselves or others physical harm or otherwise medicating them into a lobotomized state. Head JRC doctor Matthew Israel explained to ABC the real torture for autistic children and others is the latter. He stated that JRC’s shock treatment “has no detrimental effects whatsoever.”

A shock that is two seconds on the skin

The Judge Rotenberg Center uses a very small device that administers a shock when necessary as a form of behavioral therapy, says Israel. Students are only subjected to the device after a court and (within the case of autistic kids) parents or caregivers have to approve. Allegedly, the short shock hurts just enough to dissuade JRC students from destructive behavior. After periods of good behavior, students are rewarded with points. In total, the Judge Rotenberg Center houses such students for only about $200,000 per year, taxpayer financed.

UN condemns treatment

Eric Rosenthal, an advocate for the disabled, created a report that prompted the United Nations to become involved in the JRC’s activities. Massachusetts Sen. Brian Joyce has tried to shut down the Judge Rotenberg Center but has been unsuccessful thus far. The United Nations reference America’s international treaty stance on torture when referring to the JRC’s shock treatment of autistic kids and other students. The argument is that if the United States shouldn’t be administering shock treatment to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, how can any organization within the US be allowed do it to children?

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ABC News

abcnews.go.com/Nightline/shock-therapy-massachussetts-school/story?id=11047334

Surgeon Sherwin Nuland discusses the development of electroshock therapy (Editor’s Note: A small amount of NSFW language is used):

youtube.com/watch?v=oEZrAGdZ1i8