Suit settled over shock therapy at Mass. school

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Suit settled over shock therapy at Mass. school

By BOB SALSBERG (AP)

BOSTON — The family of a former student who received electric shocks at a

special needs school has agreed to receive $65,000 to settle a lawsuit claiming

the treatment was inhumane and violated the student's civil rights.

The privately operated Judge Rotenberg Center in suburban Canton uses the

controversial treatment, known as aversive therapy, to control aggressive

behavior and prevent severely autistic students from injuring themselves or

others. A device administers the shocks in two-second intervals.

The lawsuit was filed in 2006 on behalf of Antwone Nicholson, then 17, of

Freeport, N.Y., who attended the school for about four years. Nicholson's

mother, , said Wednesday she agreed to the settlement because it was " time

to move on, " and she felt her legal battle had already helped change when and

how the shocks are given.

In a statement, the school termed the settlement " minimal " and said that its

insurance company requested the case be settled for far less than the legal fees

necessary to obtain a final dismissal. The suit initially sought millions of

dollars in damages, the statement said, though Mollins, the Nicholsons'

lawyer, said he could not recall any specific dollar amount being sought.

The residential school is believed to be the only one in the country that uses

the therapy and has been a lightning rod for criticism over its 38-year history.

Still, parents of many students say the treatment has been a successful last

resort in preventing their severely autistic children from injuring themselves

by hitting their heads or other actions.

, a New York-based attorney who defended JRC, said the settlement

absolves the center of all claims by the family. The school said

Nicholson was made fully aware of the shock treatment when she signed an

individualized education plan for her son.

Mollins said Nicholson believed that the therapy would only be used to prevent

Antwone from hurting himself or others, but that was not the case.

" There was a whole list of criteria by which he would be shocked. If he just

said no to a directive, they would shock him. If he failed to pay attention to a

directive, they would shock him, " said Mollins.

" It violated his civil rights. It's inhumane treatment is what we alleged, " he

said.

Nicholson said her son pleaded with her to remove him from the school.

" He told me that if I really loved him, I would get him out of there, " she said.

Now 21, her son is living at home but still has " flashbacks " from the treatment,

she said.

The appellate division of the New York Supreme Court dismissed in June claims in

the lawsuit against the Freeport, N.Y., school district, which helped the family

place the teenager at the Rotenberg Center. A separate lawsuit brought against

the state of New York was dismissed earlier, lawyers said.

" What emerges from this case is an articulation from a wide range of experts and

JRC parents themselves that while this therapy is not intended for everyone, it

is lifesaving and highly effective as a strategy to control violent and

self-destructive behaviors, Dr. Israel, the center's executive director

and co-founder, said in a statement.

The school said shock therapy is used on less than 20 percent of students and

only if positive reinforcement fails to control behavior.

The U.S. Justice Department said in February that it had begun a " routine

investigation " into whether the use of shock therapy by JRC violated the

Americans with Disabilities Act. More than 30 advocacy groups signed a letter

sent to the Justice Department last September asking that it take action to end

the shocks.

In August 2007, Massachusetts officials investigated an incident in which

staffers at the school wrongly gave two students dozens of shocks after a prank

call from a person posing as a supervisor.

The Associated Press. All rights reserved.