#stop the shock

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

US food & drug administration (FDA) proposing ban on electric shock devices (like ones used by places like judge rotenberg center [JRC]) for self injurious behaviors or behaviors deemed aggressive.

was banned before, then was overturned. now propose new ban.

can submit formal comment here:

which. if can, please do. show FDA that there public support for ban.

not see if say only US people can comment.

edit to add: open until may 28th 2024

put under cut, some trigger warning about badly summarized info abt these devices & JRC

readmore

these devices different from modern ECT. modern ECT done under general anesthesia. these devices. ECT not without faults but these devices not same as ECT.

while there truly are behaviors in disabilities like autism that genuine cause harm to self or others, 1) using this shock device for those behaviors without consent or try other methods or think about underlying why, still issue, 2) many times used for behaviors that. staff just don’t like. like saying no. or refuse take off coat.

there videos online.

but let just say. GED-4, used by JRC (at very minimum used, past tense. not sure what model use now, but definitely still used. & still being defended on JRC website), shock for 2 seconds, lowest setting, shock at 45mA, highest at 90. don’t know what means? me neither, but to compare, tasers 3-4 mA. n frequently see survivors say they get more than 1 shocks. people shocked by these scream. put it lightly

old stuff wrote by survivor:

often see people only talk abt autism when talk abt JRC & these devices. not just autism. those diagnosed w conduct disorders, psychiatric disorders, autism, intellectual disability, & imagine other developmental disorders too.

though. need lower support needs autistic people & late diagnose autistic people decenter themselves on this. you all not typical target demographic for this. you not most affected here.

because. going be early diagnosed & visibly disabled & higher support needs people most affected.

also. majority people in JRC BIPOC. one old statistic say 50% Black people.

majority of these. are children.

& most these ugly facts & statistics not going be on JRC website. they going make everything pretty & appealing & downplay. & defend use of shock device on website

had to look through JRC website for this. just for my sacrifice please go fill out comment for FDA. link again: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/03/26/2024-06037/banned-devices-proposal-to-ban-electrical-stimulation-devices-for-self-injurious-or-aggressive

[devinsturk]

A Manifesto for the Liberated Autistic

(written by one Autistic person!)

Communication is a human right!  We demand access to whatever form of communication we choose, including unconditional access to Augmented and Alternative Communication technologies.

We demand autonomy over our own bodies and rightful decision-making powers over our own lives as we see fit.

We demand freedom from police brutality and all forms of abuse, including seclusion and physical and chemical restraint in schools and hospitals, and we demand freedom from all forms of violence, including filicide.

We demand that the shameful Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, Massachusetts—and all other institutions like it—be shut down.  #StopTheShock

ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) is conversion therapy for autistics.  We demand freedom from all oppressive “interventions” or “treatments” and quack “cures” for Autism which seek to rob us of what—and who—we are.

We demand unsegregated access to an education alongside our peers.

We demand access to our own communities and our own cultures, and we demand access to knowledge of our people’s history!

We demand meaningful employment and an end to sub-minimum wage for all disabled people.

The way we move is political, and we demand freedom from all pressures to “behave” in accordance with neurotypical standards.  Embrace the stim!  

We must commit to cross-disability solidarity and cross-movement solidarity.

#ActuallyAutistic people are the REAL experts on Autism.

[thecorvidforest]

I need you all to know about the Judge Rotenberg Center in Massachusetts.

(Content warning for below the cut: ableism, electroshock torture of developmentally & intellectually disabled people, mention of death)

Two days ago (Sep. 7th, 2023), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a residential school called the Judge Rotenberg Center can continue to use electric shock devices called GEDs (graduated electronic decelerator) that are worn 24/7 to attempt to control the actions of developmentally & intellectually disabled people.

JRC calls itself an education & treatment school for “emotionally disturbed students with conduct, behavior, emotional, and/or psychiatric problems, as well as those with intellectual disabilities or on the autism spectrum” (according to their website). They have around 50 residences throughout Massachusetts. Their strategies center around restraint and punishment for unwanted behaviors. At least five deaths are attributed directly and indirectly to their treatments.

They say these electric shock devices, which are stronger than a police grade taser and are irrefutably shown to cause permanent mental & physical damage, are “life saving” and that they’re used on people “for whom all other treatment options have been tried and failed”.

Here’s a short list of things their “students” (who are placed there by their families and very likely have no choice in the matter, and are disproportionately Black/Brown/Indigenous) are shocked for:

hand flapping/stimming

standing up

sitting down

swearing

speaking

not fulfilling a simple task

any perceived disobedience

making noises because of their disability

making noises while being shocked (such as screaming or crying)

sitting in the "wrong" way

acting without permission

incontinence

More info on JRC here and on their history here (content warning: graphic & disturbing descriptions of ableism & torture in both links, death & suicide in the 2nd link).

This is just the latest piece of an ongoing battle to stop electric shock treatment on disabled people. In 2023 we are still not seen as human enough to be the victims of human rights violations.

Info on how you can help here. Disabled people have been trying to get eyes on this fight for decades. Please talk about it. Please don’t let this go unseen like it always does.

[mind-schism]

Matthew Israel and the Judge Rotenberg Center

I've seen these subjects talked about on here but not at great, informative lengths. This isn't a replacement for research, but just a short post about undiscussed facts. There is some strange bullshit that I've never seen mentioned. I haven't covered everything either, there is so much more that it would make this post lengthier than what it already is.

Below the cut is descriptions of severe child abuse of disabled children, including cases where they are abused to death. There is also eugenics implications. Do not proceed if that makes you uncomfortable.

Who is Matthew Israel?

Matthew Israel is a PhD who, after reading Walden Two, a book about a Utopia in which all members are behaviorally conditioned to act in a perfect way. A critic of the book writes, "We find at the end of Walden Two that Frazier [a founding member of Walden Two]... has sole control over the political system and its policies. It is he who regulates food, work, education, and sleep, and who sets the moral and economic agenda."

Israel attempted to start his own Walden Two type society and the only people interested were a couple, who eventually withdrew when Israel stated that the only way they could be a part of the community is if Israel could have unconditional sex with the wife.

Israel had a small communal home where there was a misbehaving young girl, whom the mother agreed to let him modify her behavior. He slapped her across the face when she misbehaved and discovered that she would eventually stop crying when he slapped her. Shortly after, he opened up the Behavior Research Institute in California.

The Californian school eventually was forced to shut down after several students were neglected and abused until they died, including a 14 year old who was tied face down in his bed until he eventually suffocated (who's autopsy cited "mental retardation" as the cause of death).

The operations moved to Massachusetts, where an autistic man named Vincent Milletich, was restrained and forced to wear a sensory deprivation helmet for vocally stimming. Milletich, who was a known epileptic, had a seizure and died of asphyxiation due to the helmet and being restrained. The judge who found the institute not guilty of negligence wqs Judge Rotenberg, whom the center was then named after.

Judy Weber-Israel

Judy Weber-Israel, wife of Matthew, ran her own schools for autistic and emotionally challenged children called "Tobinworld", which she named after her severely autistic son Tobin Weber, whom in his obituary was said that his life was meaningful because he caused the Tobinworld schools to be opened. There is no mention of Tobin's interests or joy he brought to people's lives.

While no reports of electronic shocks have been found, there was still severe abuse. In 1991, a nine year old was abused so bad he stopped breathing and may have suffered brain damage as a result.

In 2014, a mother of 9 year old reported that the school enviroment bred abuse. She cited an incident where her son was beaten, kicked to the floor, and suffered a bloody nose as a result of staff mistreatment. To prevent the boy from making a mess with his bloody nose, they wrapped his head in a plastic bag and left him on the floor, causing him to choke on blood. This prompted an investigation and found that Matthew Israel was secretly working there. Tobinworld's license was suspended and all local school districts withdrew students, citing not only abuse but specifically concerns about Matthew Israel.

Tobinworld has a mental health clinic which is still operational, focusing on emotionally challenged and autistic children and teens.

The Shock

The most well-known thing about the Judge Rotenberg Center is the Graduated Electronic Decelerator (GED), "the shock" that everyone talks about. It's a device that is fitted to a child as young as 7 that is remotely controlled by an employee and is worn 24/7.

Originally, the Judge Rotenberg Center used a milder (but still terrible) device called the "Self-Injurious Behavior Inhibiting System", which delievered brief, small electric shocks to the wearer if the head sensor was activated in the case of headbanging. A student reportedly recieved 5,000 shocks and did not stop headbanging, prompting Israel to contact the company of the device and asked them to make a stronger device. They refused.

Israel, despite not having any electrical engineering training, made his own extremely powerful device that delievered a shock 20 times stronger than a cattle prod for 2 seconds. He made 3 devices due to students becoming unresponsive to the previous shock levels.

While it was supposed to be used to stop self injurious behavior, it was used for much more than that. It was used for general noncompliance, grimacing while sleeping, stimming, and screaming when shocked by the device. A former teacher assistant stated that when he reached into his pocket without telling his class what he was doing, four students screamed in fear and he had to shock them. Many devices are faulty and go off without any prompt, continously shocking until its removed.

Allegedly, there are also GED chairs (which shock the student if they try to get up) and GED belts (which shock the student if they remove their hand from the holster).

The most well-known case of abuse is the Andre McCollins case, an autistic boy who, in 2002, refused to remove his clat and was shocked. He tensed up and, for seven hours, was strapped to a board and shocked 31 times and suffered severe burns, all while screaming the whole time. His mother had requested the device be removed prior to the incident. There IS video footage of this incident and its incredibly hard to watch. Andre suffers from PTSD from being at the Judge Rotenberg Center and still occasionally asks him mom, "why did you send me there?"

As a part of his Walden Two "utopia" fantasy, Israel wants the device to have nationwide applications in prisons and regular schools.

Why Aversives Don't Prevent Self Injury

Self Injury is a means of communicating something, whether it's "Something hurts" or "I'm hungry" or "I need attention" or "I'm scared" or even "I like the way it feels" or "This is how I regulate". Technically, you can hurt a person to stop them from engaging in self injury, but that doesn't solve WHY they are doing it. In addition, there are many approved ways to stop someone from hurting themselves that don't involve shocking them, including preventing (avoiding triggers, helping with triggers, redirection, replacement activity, emotional regulation skills, having tests done to rule out medical issues) and lessening (helmets, mittens, medication).

Jennifer Msumba, an autistic woman who attended the Judge Rotenberg Center from 2002 to 2009, had severe self injurious behavior that included putting her head through windows. She said that her behaviors did stop, but the feelings didn't, causing her to explode at random times. Besides being shocked, she was also regularly denied food (a common practice in autism management therapies) and was stripped, tied down, and scrubbed while "male staff watched on the video monitors".

Msumba went to live at a different place, where she began engaging in self injurious behaviors again. This time, she was taught how to manage her emotions and given access to medication. She wrote a book about her experiences and recovery titled Shouting at Leaves.

What's Being Done?

The FDA banned all shock devices and corporal punishment to disabled people in 2020. The Judge Rotenberg Center was the only institution that fought this ban and they won. Since then, the FDA and many organizations have been fighting against them. Since October of 2024, the FDA has been finalizing the decision to ban shock devices including the Judge Rotenberg Center, but many believe they need to hurry up their decision. In a matter of days, Robert Kennedy, who is well-known for disliking autistic children, is becoming the head of the Health Department, which will complicate any proceedings made afterwards.

Since the 90s, many advocacy organizations have been calling for the entire center to be shut down due to the inherent abuse of the center. To my knowledge, the Judge Rotenberg Center is also the only "educational" institution that has been personally called out by United Nations for torture.

[autisticsunmasked]

You are invited to attend a disability rights rally hosted by Lisa Jeanne Graf, candidate for Massachusetts’s 8th District State Rep. Saturday, July 27th from 1-4 pm #StopTheShock

[autisticadvocacy]

More of the JRC’s residents come from New York than any other state. Passing Andre’s Law could have a big impact on the center's ability to operate! New Yorkers, your state legislators need to hear from you - call today! 

[zeroar]

[autistpride]

The torture of disabled people is *still* legal in the US. And it’s still happening at the Judge Rotenburg Center in Massachusetts.

In 2010 the UN declared the devices torture!

In 2021 the DC circuit overturned the FDA ban to allow it to continue!

JRC uses this method of "punishment" alongside a reward room where children can spend points they earned by being good.

A common practice used in ABA.

Children as young as 3 years old attend this school and the students wear electrodes up to 24 hrs a day 7 days a week to receive "correction". This is a boarding school, students do not go home. They live at the school recieving this treatment everyday with chances of visits for good behaviour.

The UN has even reported the school as abusive and appealed to the US government to have this practice stopped.

Apparently the DC circuits claimed it's abusive but for a good purpose and that the devices are banned for general use but totally fine for one single purpose... this one.

But of course these would be illegal on criminals or in military use to extract information that could be "for a good purpose" because it's abusive and violates all sorts of laws.... but apparently not when the person is a vulnerable autistic or disabled person.

One parent sent their child to the school because he wouldn't allow physical contact in the form of hugs and would bite his arms. The child is now a young man of 24 and still lives at the school with occasional visits from his parents.

This is the most absolutely ridiculous thing to electrocute someone for and even more if the person needs 10+ years of their program and still has not graduated that should be proof it's not effective.

“The first shock was in my leg. It was a stinging, ripping, and pulling pain that froze time. I was standing when it happened, and I immediately fell because I lost control of my leg. It hurt, but didn’t really register with me. I wasn’t afraid yet.”

–

“I no longer had my meds, and I would get this itchy feeling, like a hundred ants under my skin. I would fight it, but then I would get a tingle down my spine, and then I would become terrified because I knew what was coming. My hands would get cold and shake. Then the burst would come. Like slamming my head on the desk over and over until the shock came. After that would be a strange feeling of calm and peace — because it was over with. I released the impulse and had gotten the coinciding shock.”

–

“Some actual behaviors I was shocked for were: covering my eyes with my hands, covering (pressurizing) my ears, tic-like body movements, wrapping my foot around the leg of my chair, not answering staff within 5 seconds, saying the word “no”, shaking my head, tightening my fingers for more than 2 seconds, waving my hands in front of my face, 5 verbal behaviors in an hour (talk to self, repeating, crying, bizarre speech, nagging), tensing up, getting out of my seat without permission, not following directions, and attempt to remove restraints.”

–

“The video of Andre McCollins being shocked on the board tells the story. It is absolutely terrifying. The anticipation and the helplessness of being tied down and not knowing when another shock is coming. And that was the point, to add more fear to the shock. I had this done to me many times. Only sick, sick people can think this is ok.”

–

“It’s so scary. I would ask God to make my heart stop because I didn’t want to live when that was happening to me. I just wanted to die and make it stop,” [Jennifer Msumba] told CBS News correspondent Anna Werner in an interview at her mother’s home outside Boston. “I thought, they won’t be able to hurt me anymore.”

–

“They grabbed my arms and walked me over to the board. Told me to sit then lie down and started locking me in. I was begging, pleading that I didn’t do anything and could they explain what I did. Nothing. I didn’t fight, I just shook. My limbs went cold with fear, knowing what was coming and having to wait for it. She went outside the door and closed it most of the way so I couldn’t see her. All I could do was breath in shudders and kick my one leg that was looser then the other. Then she shocked me out of nowhere. And said “there is no hurting yourself”. One down, 4 to go. When they do this, time stops and everything around me would turn into a nightmarish cloud. I would just beg in my mind for them to hurry up and do it. But the whole point is to MAKE you anticipate. To fear, to suffer. Not knowing when it’s coming. The shit is so sick and twisted, it should be in a movie. They put this show and tell on that they care, but this is what REALLY happens. This is what really fucking happens. After about 10 minutes of agonizing mental and physical torture and 5 shocks later, they took me off the board.”

[deltajuli]

im not disabled, but i think this is really important to share, so please reblog

[disposabletapedispenser]

tw: torture, ableism

https://chng.it/y79PV2cfkMif you do not want to read about the following potentially triggering topics, please skip past this post. take care of yourselves. 

hi, tumblr. this isn’t a happy topic, and i’m literally shaking while writing this. i am autistic and neurodivergent, and this has shaken me to my core. it is still legal to torture disabled people in the united states in order to modify “unwanted” behaviors linked to disobedience or disability. 

the judge rotenberg center uses electric shock to cruelly punish the following, and more, behaviors.

-stimming or unwanted movements and noises linked to disability

-standing up from a chair

-going to the bathroom in clothing after being denied the right to use the bathroom

-not taking off a sweater

-screaming in pain during shocking

the ged (graduated electronic decelerator) is a torture device. shock therapy has been classed as torture in the uk. it is being used against disabled people and children. the side effects of the torture include third degree burns, ptsd, and more. some people were first shocked before ten years old. 

THIS HAS TO FUCKING STOP. the violent dehumanization and abuse of people with disabilities is revolting and needs to be ended immediately. 

https://chng.it/y79PV2cfkM

https://autisticadvocacy.org/stoptheshock/

(warning: this has clips of electric shock torture in which a teenage patient screams in pain. viewer discretion advised) https://youtu.be/BxtZXUheQ8E

https://nymag.com/news/features/andre-mccollins-rotenberg-center-2012-9/

[justletmeon12]

Important Info for People in NYC

[chloesimaginationthings]

Michael learns of Jeff’s pizza from FNAF Into the pit

[shepscapades]

[Part 1] [Part 2] [PART 3]

Xbralis as the first canon dbhc pairing with the steel chair!

[bet-on-me-13]

Dark Secret

So! Danny was discovered pretty quickly after his first battle against the Lunch Lady. His hair turned white, and his body shape was a little different, but he largely looked very similar to his Human Form, so it was only a matter of time really.

Thankfully he was assumed to be a Metahuman.

He didn't look like any other Ghost, the closest resemblance was his hair and eye color, but even that could be explained away. Also his parents were adamant that he couldn't be a Ghost because he was still Sentient and not Evil, so he must just have powers that just looked similar to Ghost Powers esthetically. Probably as a result of the Portal Accident, which he used as an explanation for how his powers awakened.

Danny also avoided using the more obvious Ghost Powers like Intangiblity and Invisiblity, sticking mostly to the most basic Flight and Energy based Powers he got to be as generic as possible. If anybody saw otherwise, it was a trick of the light or a trick of the Ghosts.

Danny became the Hero of Amity Park, always pretending to be something else. It was his darkest secret.

Unfortunately because the public never saw a Ghost like Phantom on a positive light, their perception of Ghosts never changed. Nobody believed that Ghosts could be anything aside from Evil, and as the knowledge of Ghosts and the Ghost Zone began to spread around the world that perception became more and more commonplace.

If Danny had been revealed in the early days, it could have been salvageable, but nowadays if his secret was revealed he would have to convince the entire world that everything they knew about Ghosts was wrong. It would practically be impossible.

Even when he joined the Justice League when he became an Adult, he still had to hide his secret. Years of hiding made sure he could conceal his true Nature from the magic users on the team, but he still had to be distant from the team just to be sure.

While all this was going on in the Living Realm, his adventures in the Ghost Zone still happened as normal. He saved Pandora and the Acropolis, dethroned the Tyrant King Aragon, managed to defeat Pariah Dark in Single combat, and even became recognized as a Great Warrior by the Far Frozen.

After years of hiding, he actually felt more at home in the Ghost Zone than in the Human Realm. There he could be his true self without having to hide a huge part of his identity, and people accepted him for who he was. Sure he had enemies there, but he also had more real friends outside of Tucker and Sam.

He was content with his double life, acting as a Hero to the Public while hiding his true self, and secretly going to the Ghost Zone to be himself among his friends and even his enemies.

Of course it all came crashing down when he Anti Ecto Acts finally passed.

Now there was a Legal Path for Humans to enter and profit off of the Ghost Zone. Beyond just being able to legally kill and experiment on Ghosts, the Acts also allowed Humans to claim parts of the Ghost Zone as their own Property, enslaving the Ghosts residing there, and destroying the Ecosystem of the Zone because there were no laws preventing it.

And now Danny had a choice.

He could either side with the Humans to which he was a Hero, allowing them to destroy the Ghost Zone and Enslave the denizens living there with the full support of the Government, or he could side with the Ghost Zone, betraying Humanity and the people he had been protecting for years, but trying to save those who had accepted him for his true self years ago.

To him the answer was obvious.

[beif0ngs]

It looks like they fell asleep.

[pomarrillo]

thought id pick up fe3h again after 4 years! blue lions this time 😁 and then church route next if i dont get burnt out by then