Dear Editor,

The Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, MA provides behavioral treatment to Autistic and Disabled residents using the methodologies of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). JRC’s behavior modification program relies heavily on aversion therapy. 

Aversives that are used to modify behavior include: food deprivation, restraint, solitary confinement, GED skin shocks, etc. While the JRC contends that they only use the shock device for dangerous behaviors their own literature [effectivetreatment.org] states they can predict a dangerous behavior and will use aversives for things as simple as raising a hand, standing up, making noises or stimming, a self soothing behavior used by people on the spectrum such as flapping their hands. These claims have been refuted by Government Investigations.

#StopTheShock: A Campaign Exposing the Dangers of Aversive Shock Conditioning at the Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC) in Canton, Massachusetts and Supporting Legislative Action!

The Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC) is the only facility in the United States that continues to use Electric Skin Shock Devices on Autistic and Disabled Individuals as a form of Behavior Modification. The Graduated Electronic Decelerator [en.wikipedia.org] (GED) is a device that delivers a powerful and painful shock to Autistic & Disabled individuals who behave in ways that are deemed inappropriate by staff at the center.

The GED has been known to burn skin and is traumatic for individuals exposed to the device. Shock therapy lacks an effective method for withdrawal, and its residents have claimed they are unable to connect their behavior to the shocks, leading to unwanted side effects. The GED is designed to be six times stronger than a police taser and is worn 24/7 including sleeping and showering. The use of aversive conditioning through electric shocks is not only ineffective but also a violation of basic human rights.

Six people have died under suspicious circumstances while under the care of JRC but no criminal liability was attached to the school until 2011, when Matthew Israel was indicted on charges of obstructing justice for destroying evidence of Andre McCollins, a New York City autistic teenager, being strapped to a board and shocked 31 times over 7 hours for not removing his coat. The first shock was given after he did not take off his coat when asked and the subsequent thirty shocks were given as punishments for screaming and tensing up while being shocked. In the video, McCollins can be heard shouting “Someone, help me, please!” The JRC staff listed not taking off his coat as a “major disruptive behavior”, for which he was administered a GED shock.


Cost & Funding:

JRC is a non-profit organization paying no taxes to our state. It costs [projects.propublica.org] $291,414 per year to keep ONE resident at the JRC, paid for in tax dollars. For the fiscal year 2021 the center got $89 million or 98% of its total public support and revenue from state government agencies.

In September of 2021 DCFS began sending kids taken from abusive conditions to this abusive facility and by the fiscal year end, they spent $2.8 million. Government grants totaled $4,651,447. Massachusetts must do better!

Currently the JRC operates under the protection of a thirty-six year old consent decree. That decree was entered, and has remained in place, after State agencies resorted to pretextual and bad faith regulatory practices to disrupt JRC’s operations in the 1980s and 1990s. The State agencies that remain bound [cases.justia.com] by the decree have since moved for its termination without success.

In 2013 the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture [spcommreports.ohchr.org] concluded that the GED violates the UN Convention Against Torture. The Association For Behavior Analyst International [abainternational.org] (ABAI) stated “we strongly oppose the use of contingent electric skin shock (CESS) under any condition”. Regardless of these statements, over the past few years, many attempts have been hit with roadblocks by our state courts and politicians.

The MA Stop The Shock Coalition is organizing a Huge Protest @ Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC)‼️🪧


Date: October 5, 2024

Time: 1-4 PM

Place: Judge Rotenberg Educational Center

           250 Turnpike St

           Canton, MA 02021 

Free Shirts, Snacks & Waters will be available!

For more info go to https://stoptheshock.info [stoptheshock.info]


Sincerely, 

Elisa Hunt

Lead Organizer

MA Stop The Shock Coalition