NARPA
Stop the Shock—The Judge Rotenberg Center and Aversive Interventions
A brief history on the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, Massachusetts and their use of electric shock devices for behavior modification. The session will also briefly touch on other aversive interventions used around the nation including: restraint and seclusion and corporal punishment. The session will also explore the decades-long fight to ban the use of the electric shock device, including current efforts.
Learning Goals:
Participants will be able to identify the aversive interventions used by The Judge Rotenberg Center, explain why there is no evidence base to support the practice, and summarize the advocacy efforts to ban the device.
Background articles:
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Disability Advocates Fight Ruling Allowing Electric Shock Treatment Back In Mass. Residential School, WBUR, Boston, Aug. 12, 2021
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UN Calls Shock Treatment at Mass School Torture, ABC News, May 2011, plus updates
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The U.N. says it’s torture. Judges ruled this school can use shock therapy anyway, Center for Public Integrity, July 2021
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900 Applied Behavior Analysis Professionals Have Weighed in on the Use of Electroshock at Judge Rotenberg Center, an article from NeuroClastic, "a collective of Autistic people responsive to the evolving needs and trajectory of the Autistic community," August 2021, with an update from May 2022