Rotenberg in the news: lack of oversight of shock treatment

[Guest guest]

For the money the state spends to to keep a child at Rotenberg each

year, three or four full-time, round the clock caretakers could be

hired to do wrap-around treatment for each child in their own homes

and communities.

ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION

Promoting Openness, Full Disclosure, and Accountability

http://www.ahrp.org and http://ahrp.blogspot.com

FYI

The Boston Globe reports that a state investigative report has found

that two special education students at the controversial Judge

Rotenberg Educational Center were wrongfully delivered dozens of

punishing electrical shocks in August based on a prank phone call

from a former student posing as a supervisor.

School staffers contacted state authorities after they realized they

had been tricked on Aug. 26 into delivering 77 shocks to one student

and 29

shocks to another.

Neither the " prankster's " name nor that of the staff member who

administered

the brutal punishment were named.

A system that allows brutalizers to be shielded ensures that abuse

will

continue.

Indeed, Massachusetts officials have tried twice to close the

Rotenberg

center because of its brutalizing " treatment " methods.

The disabled " students " at the center are people with autism, mental

retardation, and emotional problems.

Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav

veracare@...

212-595-8974

http://tinyurl.com/2akfrj

Prank led school to treat two with shock

Special ed center duped, report says

Email|Print| Text size – + By Wen

Globe Staff / December 18, 2007

Two special education students at the controversial Judge Rotenberg

Educational Center in Canton were wrongfully delivered dozens of

punishing electrical shocks in August based on a prank phone call

from a former student posing as a supervisor, a state investigative

report has found.

more stories like thisSchool staffers contacted state authorities

after they realized they had been tricked on Aug. 26 into delivering

77 shocks to one student and 29 shocks to another, according to

, a spokeswoman for the Department of Early Education

and Care, which drafted the report. Both students were part of a

Rotenberg-run group home in Stoughton for males under age 22.

The Judge Rotenberg center, which serves about 250 adults and

children from across the country, has been under fire for more than

two decades for its unorthodox behavior-modification treatments,

including electric shock treatments. Its defenders say that the

school takes in troubled students, some with self-damaging behavior,

who have been rejected by other schools. The center, which

Massachusetts officials have tried twice to close because of its

treatment methods, focuses on serving people with autism, mental

retardation, and emotional problems.

Ernest Corrigan, a spokesman for the Rotenberg center, said the

school contacted law enforcement " within hours " after discovering

the prank, and that such an incident has never before happened at

the school. Corrigan said they have instituted new safeguards to

prevent such occurrences. He also said that while the school regrets

the incident, the two male students who received the wrongful shocks

did not experience any serious physical harm and did not need

medical treatment afterwards.

The shock devices, which are strapped to some students' arms, legs,

or torsos, deliver two-second electric jolts to the skin. The

devices are controlled remotely by teachers.

State officials said the identity of the prankster is known to law

enforcement authorities, but they would not release his name

publicly and he has not been arrested. The identity of the staffer

who was fooled into administering the shocks has also not been

released. State officials indicated that some disciplinary action

took place, though they would not specify what it was.

According to records from the Disabled Persons Protections

Commission hotline phone log, there are repeated complaints about

the incident. One entry said " the caller claimed that the shocks

were approved, however, they were not. "

Based on the prankster's call, one of the students was also

wrongfully placed in four-point restraints, limiting mobility of all

four limbs.

Critics of the Rotenberg school say the case shows that school

officials have failed to live up to their public promises to deliver

electric shocks only sparingly and with great oversight.

" This shows a systemic breakdown at the center, " said Leo

Sarkissian, executive director of ARC of Massachusetts, which

represents people with cognitive and developmental disabilities. " It

only takes a phone call to instigate shocks to this degree. "

Top officials in New York and Washington, D.C., where many of the

center's students originate, have called for a stop to the

controversial shock treatments at the school.

Yesterday, in a prepared statement, state Senator Joyce called

on officials to more strictly limit and regulate the use of shock

therapy in the state.

" This incident is horrifying and it would be immoral for the

Legislature and the Executive branch not to react strongly and

swiftly, " Joyce said.

Corrigan, the spokesman for the center, said he is confident the

August case will not be repeated, and he hopes this episode " will

not be used to overshadow the good work that we do for those who

have no where else to go. "

Wen can be reached at wen@....

[Guest guest]

I cannot believe they still use this as a form of treatment for these

kids. This is sad, that the USA tolerates this.

Oh yes I have seen and heard the parents who have children with

severe self injury behaviors. I do sympathize for them, because my

son USED to be one

of these kids. Head banging, hitting his fits on anything hard,to the

point of severe cuts, concusions, etc..

But thru biomedical treatments - the behaviors are gone.

Most behaviors have been proven to be health related -- when is the

rest of the world going to catch up?? The USA should be making funds

available to all parents to treat their children biomedically, and

have support staff, while the child is healing.

We worry about injustice for prisoners, what about our children?

In EOHarm , " anacat_11 " <anacat_11@...> wrote:

>

> For the money the state spends to to keep a child at Rotenberg each

> year, three or four full-time, round the clock caretakers could be

> hired to do wrap-around treatment for each child in their own homes

> and communities.

>

> ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION

> Promoting Openness, Full Disclosure, and Accountability

> http://www.ahrp.org and http://ahrp.blogspot.com

>

> FYI

> The Boston Globe reports that a state investigative report has

found

> that two special education students at the controversial Judge

> Rotenberg Educational Center were wrongfully delivered dozens of

> punishing electrical shocks in August based on a prank phone call

> from a former student posing as a supervisor.

>

> School staffers contacted state authorities after they realized

they

> had been tricked on Aug. 26 into delivering 77 shocks to one

student

> and 29

> shocks to another.

> Neither the " prankster's " name nor that of the staff member who

> administered

> the brutal punishment were named.

>

> A system that allows brutalizers to be shielded ensures that abuse

> will

> continue.

>

> Indeed, Massachusetts officials have tried twice to close the

> Rotenberg

> center because of its brutalizing " treatment " methods.

> The disabled " students " at the center are people with autism, mental

> retardation, and emotional problems.

>

>

> Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav

> veracare@...

> 212-595-8974

>

>

> http://tinyurl.com/2akfrj

>

> Prank led school to treat two with shock

> Special ed center duped, report says

> Email|Print| Text size – + By Wen

> Globe Staff / December 18, 2007

> Two special education students at the controversial Judge Rotenberg

> Educational Center in Canton were wrongfully delivered dozens of

> punishing electrical shocks in August based on a prank phone call

> from a former student posing as a supervisor, a state investigative

> report has found.

>

> more stories like thisSchool staffers contacted state authorities

> after they realized they had been tricked on Aug. 26 into

delivering

> 77 shocks to one student and 29 shocks to another, according to

> , a spokeswoman for the Department of Early Education

> and Care, which drafted the report. Both students were part of a

> Rotenberg-run group home in Stoughton for males under age 22.

>

> The Judge Rotenberg center, which serves about 250 adults and

> children from across the country, has been under fire for more than

> two decades for its unorthodox behavior-modification treatments,

> including electric shock treatments. Its defenders say that the

> school takes in troubled students, some with self-damaging

behavior,

> who have been rejected by other schools. The center, which

> Massachusetts officials have tried twice to close because of its

> treatment methods, focuses on serving people with autism, mental

> retardation, and emotional problems.

>

> Ernest Corrigan, a spokesman for the Rotenberg center, said the

> school contacted law enforcement " within hours " after discovering

> the prank, and that such an incident has never before happened at

> the school. Corrigan said they have instituted new safeguards to

> prevent such occurrences. He also said that while the school

regrets

> the incident, the two male students who received the wrongful

shocks

> did not experience any serious physical harm and did not need

> medical treatment afterwards.

>

> The shock devices, which are strapped to some students' arms, legs,

> or torsos, deliver two-second electric jolts to the skin. The

> devices are controlled remotely by teachers.

>

> State officials said the identity of the prankster is known to law

> enforcement authorities, but they would not release his name

> publicly and he has not been arrested. The identity of the staffer

> who was fooled into administering the shocks has also not been

> released. State officials indicated that some disciplinary action

> took place, though they would not specify what it was.

>

> According to records from the Disabled Persons Protections

> Commission hotline phone log, there are repeated complaints about

> the incident. One entry said " the caller claimed that the shocks

> were approved, however, they were not. "

>

> Based on the prankster's call, one of the students was also

> wrongfully placed in four-point restraints, limiting mobility of

all

> four limbs.

>

> Critics of the Rotenberg school say the case shows that school

> officials have failed to live up to their public promises to

deliver

> electric shocks only sparingly and with great oversight.

>

> " This shows a systemic breakdown at the center, " said Leo

> Sarkissian, executive director of ARC of Massachusetts, which

> represents people with cognitive and developmental

disabilities. " It

> only takes a phone call to instigate shocks to this degree. "

>

> Top officials in New York and Washington, D.C., where many of the

> center's students originate, have called for a stop to the

> controversial shock treatments at the school.

>

> Yesterday, in a prepared statement, state Senator Joyce

called

> on officials to more strictly limit and regulate the use of shock

> therapy in the state.

>

> " This incident is horrifying and it would be immoral for the

> Legislature and the Executive branch not to react strongly and

> swiftly, " Joyce said.

>

> Corrigan, the spokesman for the center, said he is confident the

> August case will not be repeated, and he hopes this episode " will

> not be used to overshadow the good work that we do for those who

> have no where else to go. "

>

> Wen can be reached at wen@...

>

[Guest guest]

An old friend of mine tried all sorts of biomed for her son, he still

banged his head until he fractured his skull, more than once. What I

would have given to find any aspect of biomed to help that little boy.

Debi

>

> I cannot believe they still use this as a form of treatment for these

> kids. This is sad, that the USA tolerates this.

> Oh yes I have seen and heard the parents who have children with

> severe self injury behaviors. I do sympathize for them, because my

> son USED to be one

> of these kids. Head banging, hitting his fits on anything hard,to the

> point of severe cuts, concusions, etc..

> But thru biomedical treatments - the behaviors are gone.

> Most behaviors have been proven to be health related -- when is the

> rest of the world going to catch up?? The USA should be making funds

> available to all parents to treat their children biomedically, and

> have support staff, while the child is healing.

> We worry about injustice for prisoners, what about our children?

[Guest guest]

I'm willing to bet that most cases of self-injury among children in

institutions are exascerbated by psychotropes, which can cause the

behavior on their own. Some cases of self injury are induced by the

original toxic insults, which we're all aware of because we've seen

this in our undrugged kids, though it seems that most children

respond to altmed.

The reason that Rotenberg exists is because it's the last stop for

many children so damaged by drugs that they can't be treated with

them anymore (tardive dyskinesia, liver damage and other permanent

and verging-on-lethal physical and brain damage). That's the main, if

not only reason Rotenberg doesn't use psychiatric drugs. It's

certainly not because the institution is kinder and more humane than

other institutions.

But still, we've all heard of kids whose damage is too severe for

biomed to improve all behaviors. I'm sure that it doesn't hurt to

keep casomorphin and gliadorphin out of the brain with GF/CF and I'm

sure it helps with digestion, etc., to address malabsorbtion and

mineral deficits. But I guess some kids will retain horrible GS pain

and problems and some retain self-injurious behaviors. In that case,

I'll still repeat that, for the cost of tuition for the Rotenberg

Center, three or four round-the-clock caretakers could be hired to

care for an individual in their own home. There are kinder-gentler

ways of managing certain behaviors short of shock and sometimes

lethal restraint and life-shortening medications. Since the

government won't pay for this and it's not been tried and documented

in research for a series of families, there's no way to rule out a

more decent approach.

> >

> > I cannot believe they still use this as a form of treatment for

these

> > kids. This is sad, that the USA tolerates this.

> > Oh yes I have seen and heard the parents who have children with

> > severe self injury behaviors. I do sympathize for them, because

my

> > son USED to be one

> > of these kids. Head banging, hitting his fits on anything hard,to

the

> > point of severe cuts, concusions, etc..

> > But thru biomedical treatments - the behaviors are gone.

> > Most behaviors have been proven to be health related -- when is

the

> > rest of the world going to catch up?? The USA should be making

funds

> > available to all parents to treat their children biomedically,

and

> > have support staff, while the child is healing.

> > We worry about injustice for prisoners, what about our children?

>

[Guest guest]

OMG!!!!!!!!! I cannot believe this is legal! The

people allowing and or giving shocks should be put in

jail! Where is the ADA!!!!!!!!!!! This is abuse on

the disabled! If I lived there, I would be pounding on

their doors! I am so upset, that I am going to call

and give that school a piece of my mind! Anyone care

to join me and make their week hell?Who do they think

they are? This can happen to any of our kids!!!!!!

Taking advantage of the weak! UGH!

--- s_degiusti <blessingsx10@...> wrote:

> I cannot believe they still use this as a form of

> treatment for these

> kids. This is sad, that the USA tolerates this.

> Oh yes I have seen and heard the parents who have

> children with

> severe self injury behaviors. I do sympathize for

> them, because my

> son USED to be one

> of these kids. Head banging, hitting his fits on

> anything hard,to the

> point of severe cuts, concusions, etc..

> But thru biomedical treatments - the behaviors are

> gone.

> Most behaviors have been proven to be health related

> -- when is the

> rest of the world going to catch up?? The USA

> should be making funds

> available to all parents to treat their children

> biomedically, and

> have support staff, while the child is healing.

> We worry about injustice for prisoners, what about

> our children?

>

> In EOHarm , " anacat_11 "

> <anacat_11@...> wrote:

> >

> > For the money the state spends to to keep a child

> at Rotenberg each

> > year, three or four full-time, round the clock

> caretakers could be

> > hired to do wrap-around treatment for each child

> in their own homes

> > and communities.

> >

> > ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION

> > Promoting Openness, Full Disclosure, and

> Accountability

> > http://www.ahrp.org and http://ahrp.blogspot.com

> >

> > FYI

> > The Boston Globe reports that a state

> investigative report has

> found

> > that two special education students at the

> controversial Judge

> > Rotenberg Educational Center were wrongfully

> delivered dozens of

> > punishing electrical shocks in August based on a

> prank phone call

> > from a former student posing as a supervisor.

> >

> > School staffers contacted state authorities after

> they realized

> they

> > had been tricked on Aug. 26 into delivering 77

> shocks to one

> student

> > and 29

> > shocks to another.

> > Neither the " prankster's " name nor that of the

> staff member who

> > administered

> > the brutal punishment were named.

> >

> > A system that allows brutalizers to be shielded

> ensures that abuse

> > will

> > continue.

> >

> > Indeed, Massachusetts officials have tried twice

> to close the

> > Rotenberg

> > center because of its brutalizing " treatment "

> methods.

> > The disabled " students " at the center are people

> with autism, mental

> > retardation, and emotional problems.

> >

> >

> > Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav

> > veracare@...

> > 212-595-8974

> >

> >

> > http://tinyurl.com/2akfrj

> >

> > Prank led school to treat two with shock

> > Special ed center duped, report says

> > Email|Print| Text size – + By Wen

> > Globe Staff / December 18, 2007

> > Two special education students at the

> controversial Judge Rotenberg

> > Educational Center in Canton were wrongfully

> delivered dozens of

> > punishing electrical shocks in August based on a

> prank phone call

> > from a former student posing as a supervisor, a

> state investigative

> > report has found.

> >

> > more stories like thisSchool staffers contacted

> state authorities

> > after they realized they had been tricked on Aug.

> 26 into

> delivering

> > 77 shocks to one student and 29 shocks to another,

> according to

> > , a spokeswoman for the Department

> of Early Education

> > and Care, which drafted the report. Both students

> were part of a

> > Rotenberg-run group home in Stoughton for males

> under age 22.

> >

> > The Judge Rotenberg center, which serves about 250

> adults and

> > children from across the country, has been under

> fire for more than

> > two decades for its unorthodox

> behavior-modification treatments,

> > including electric shock treatments. Its defenders

> say that the

> > school takes in troubled students, some with

> self-damaging

> behavior,

> > who have been rejected by other schools. The

> center, which

> > Massachusetts officials have tried twice to close

> because of its

> > treatment methods, focuses on serving people with

> autism, mental

> > retardation, and emotional problems.

> >

> > Ernest Corrigan, a spokesman for the Rotenberg

> center, said the

> > school contacted law enforcement " within hours "

> after discovering

> > the prank, and that such an incident has never

> before happened at

> > the school. Corrigan said they have instituted new

> safeguards to

> > prevent such occurrences. He also said that while

> the school

> regrets

> > the incident, the two male students who received

> the wrongful

> shocks

> > did not experience any serious physical harm and

> did not need

> > medical treatment afterwards.

> >

> > The shock devices, which are strapped to some

> students' arms, legs,

> > or torsos, deliver two-second electric jolts to

> the skin. The

> > devices are controlled remotely by teachers.

> >

> > State officials said the identity of the prankster

> is known to law

> > enforcement authorities, but they would not

> release his name

> > publicly and he has not been arrested. The

> identity of the staffer

> > who was fooled into administering the shocks has

> also not been

> > released. State officials indicated that some

> disciplinary action

> > took place, though they would not specify what it

> was.

> >

> > According to records from the Disabled Persons

> Protections

> > Commission hotline phone log, there are repeated

> complaints about

> > the incident. One entry said " the caller claimed

> that the shocks

> > were approved, however, they were not. "

> >

> > Based on the prankster's call, one of the students

> was also

> > wrongfully placed in four-point restraints,

> limiting mobility of

> all

> > four limbs.

> >

> > Critics of the Rotenberg school say the case shows

> that school

> > officials have failed to live up to their public

> promises to

> deliver

> > electric shocks only sparingly and with great

> oversight.

> >

> > " This shows a systemic breakdown at the center, "

> said Leo

> > Sarkissian, executive director of ARC of

> Massachusetts, which

> > represents people with cognitive and developmental

>

> disabilities. " It

> > only takes a phone call to instigate shocks to

> this

=== message truncated ===

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

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