JG pre-article comment:
Bob Dylan said: "There are NO TRUTHS outside the Gates of Eden". For all the Gun-Nuts who now think Autistics are being used to
'take our guns'.
The following Official Boston News report from 2006 shows how autistic and other young people have been treated in conditions which make the much maligned 'Fema-Camp' of the
'Mad-Max' American Zeitgeist look like a BUPA camp.
- (BUPA =
American holiday camps for teens).
----------------
Judge Rotenberg Center report - the horror is hard to read http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/showthread.php?tid=4033This is the report from recent visits by a professional team investigating practices at the Judge Rotenberg Center. It is truly horrific what they are doing. I am shocked that was is happening there is worse than we ever knew.
This report was made on the 6th June 2006. http://boston.com/news/daily/15/school_report.pdfExtracts -Observations and Findings of Out-of-State Program Visitation
Judge Rotenberg Educational Center
Summary of FindingsFollowing is a summary of the findings1 of concern primarily relating to the behavioral interventions and related instructional practices used at JRC.
JRC employs a general use of Level III aversive behavioral interventions
(electric shock devices and restraint chairs) to students with a broad range of disabilities, many without a clear history of self-injurious behaviors.
� JRC employs a general use of Level III aversive behavioral interventions to students for behaviors that are not aggressive, health dangerous or destructive, such as nagging, swearing and failing to maintain a neat appearance.
� The use of the electric skin shock conditioning devices as used at JRC raises health and safety concerns.
� The Contingent Food Program and Specialized Food Program (withholding food) may impose unnecessary risks affecting the normal growth and development and overall nutritional/health status of students subjected to this aversive behavior intervention.
JRC promotes a setting that discourages social interaction between staff and students and among students.
� Students are provided insufficient academic and special education instruction, including limited provision of related services.
Most of these students have the disability classification �Emotional Disturbance� with IQ scores that fall in the low average to average range of intelligence. There are also a number of students with the classification of Autism with cognitive abilities falling in the range of mild to profound mental retardation. Many of the students from NYS have diagnoses of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and bipolar disorder. A number of students also have histories of abuse and abandonment.
JRC�s marketing representatives provide information through presentations to staff at some NYS psychiatric facilities that in turn discuss the program with the families. JRC�s marketing representatives visit the family in their homes and as indicated in representatives� case notes, provide the family with information and gifts for the family and student (e.g., a gift bag for the family, basketball for the student).
One student�s behavior chart documenting total inappropriate behaviors showed an increase from 800 per week during the first weeks after admission to JRC to average of 12,000 per week. Clinician notes only document the number of inappropriate behaviors. They did not denote any positive behaviors or academic progress.
Level III Aversive Procedures Used by JRC StaffUpon receipt of parental consent, JRC applies to a Massachusetts Probate Court through a substituted judgment petition to use Level III aversives in the student�s behavioral program. Level III aversives constitute a broad spectrum of punishment techniques that include movement limitation (i.e. mechanical and physical restraint), contingent food, helmet, and electric skin shock. The use of Behavior Rehearsal Lesson (BRL)3 and combined use of aversive techniques are also Level III interventions.
Electric skin shockThe most common Level III aversive procedure used at JRC is skin shock in which one or more electrical stimulations are administered to a student after he or she engages in a targeted behavior. Skin shocks are delivered through a graduated electronic deceleration (GED) device that consists of a transmitter operated by JRC staff and a receiver worn by the JRC student. The receiver delivers an electrical current to the student�s skin upon command from the transmitter. Electrodes are worn by the student on various parts of the body, notably the arms, legs and stomach area, and can range in number and placement dependent upon the students� behavior program guidelines.
Students wear the GED device for the majority of their sleeping and waking hours, and some students are required to wear it during shower/bath time. The GED receivers range in size and are placed in either �fanny� packs or knapsacks. Staff carry the GED transmitters in a plastic box. Students may have multiple GED devices (electrodes) on their bodies. For example, one NYS student�s behavior program states, �C will wear two GED devices. C will wear 3 spread, GED electrodes at all times and take a GED shower for her full self care.�
The GED is manufactured by the JRC. While JRC has information posted on their website and in written articles which represents the GED device as "approved", it has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA has cleared the device for marketing as �substantially equivalent to devices marketed or classified as �aversive conditioning devices.� FDA's clearance prohibits JRC from representing the device as FDA approved. JRC�s GED was modified from other similar devices on the market by doubling the intensity (amperage and voltage) and increasing the duration by 10 times (from .2 to 2 seconds) of the shock administered and by expanding the positions on the body where the electrodes could be placed. JRC also uses a device called the GED-4, which applies an even greater intensity shock to the student when the student fails to respond to the lower level shock.
At the time of team�s April visit there were 148 NYS students enrolled at JRC. At that time, 77 were approved to receive Level III behavioral interventions from staff at JRC. Of these 77 students, 53 were receiving skin shock through the GED that is adjustable with an average intensity of 15.25 mill amperes RMS, a duration of .2 seconds to 2 seconds, an average peak of 30.5 milliamperes, and 24 students are receiving GED (referred to as a GED-4) skin shock which has a maximum current of 45.0 milliamperes RMS, an average peak of 91 milliamperes, and a maximum duration of 2 seconds. The higher-level shock is used when it is determined that the student is not responding to the lower level shock.
Use of automated electronic devices & automatic negative reinforcementAt JRC, an additional form of electrical circuitry is used to automatically administer a series of aversives (e.g., skin shocks) as soon as a behavior is initiated. Shocks are administered at regular intervals (e.g., one every three seconds). The automatic negative reinforcement shocks terminate as soon as the behavior stops occurring. This device is not operated by JRC staff. For example, some students are made to sit on a GED cushion seat that will automatically administer a skin shock for the targeted behavior of �standing up�, while others wear waist holsters that will administer a skin shock if the student pulls his/her hands out of the holster. NYSED could not find evidence, nor did JRC provide the evidence as requested, that this automated electric shock device has been cleared for marketing by FDA or approved by FDA. FDA regulations prohibit the use of an aversive conditioning device that has not been approved or cleared by FDA.
Movement limitationMovement limitation is another commonly used Level III intervention that may be applied manually or mechanically. When applied manually, staff members physically hold the student. With mechanical movement limitation the student is strapped into/onto some form of physical apparatus. For example, a four-point platform board designed specifically for this purpose; or a helmet with thick padding and narrow facial grid that reduces sensory stimuli to the ears and eyes. Another form of mechanical restraint occurs when the student is in a five-point restraint in a chair. Students may be restrained for extensive periods of time (e.g., hours or intermittently for days) when restraint is used as a punishing consequence. Many students are required to carry their own �restraint bag� in which the restraint straps are contained.
Under the terms of the Court Order, JRC must notify the Court Monitor if a student requires more than eight continuous hours of movement limitation procedures in a 24-hour period. In addition, the Court must also be notified if the student spends five or more days in movement limitation in a seven-day period. The school nurse stated that she is responsible to monitor any skin burns caused by the GED and abrasions due to restraints. She also advises staff on the positioning of restraints and potential complications for each student. Based upon the nurse�s recommendation, a student may be restrained in a prone, seated, or upright position.
JG Post article comment:
(It's been hard work coming on this Darned forum every day for forever.
JG doesn't do it because he's autistic, no, he does it because of the concept of Truth telling.
And Because that's always been a dying art. Especially when the people in charge of telling us how it is, are a band of overpaid cronies who have little or no idea of how insulting I'd like to be right now ....)
