i applaude the judge rotenberg center for not turning to antipsychotic drugs to treat their clients. perhaps those commeting and writing the articles should know the whole story before put their thoughts in writing for the world to see.

Maybe some kids need antipsychotic drugs. Antipsychotic drugs would certainly be less harmful than these abusive techniques. It reminds me of the good ol' days when we tortured the mentally ill instead of treating them.

How about putting the authorities of these schools through the same treatment, see how they like it. What the hell is going on, are these sickos getting their jollies torturing children? Indeed, the real psychos are running the establishment.

So........dr. christine as you call yourself in the first post. So EXACTLY what is the full freakin story??? Tell me before I get on a plane and pay a visit to this place to find out myself. Also....Mother Jones could you possibly work on consolidating this into one blog? Its kind of a mish mash, scattered about on various angles of this story throught your site.

Traveler: What happened to America under Bush?

"Dr." Christine writes: "perhaps those commeting and writing the articles should know the whole story before put their thoughts in writing for the world to see." And perhaps people should think twice about publicly revealing themselves to be apologists for torture.

I have posted an extensive response to Ms. Gonnerman's article in the forum under the main article at http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/09/school_of_shock.html Matthew L. Israel,Ph.D. Executive Director Judge Rotenberg Educational Center www.judgerc.org

The content of this article as well as the way the background information was collected is terribly skewed toward portraying everything that has ever happened at the JRC as torture and worse. My brother is a student there and has been in the JRC programs since the center was known as the Behavior Research Institute. The time frame I describe goes back over 15 years. My brother's pervasive developmental disorder was "treated" before his admission to JRC by a battery of ineffective, destructive psychotropic drugs and even lousier "care" as provided by NY state facilities (particularly the Brooklyn Developmental Center in the Spring Creek section of the borough). After repeated misdiagnoses and a series of nearly fatal psychiatric hospital stays, our family found methods of behavior modification (up to and including the skin shock device) that have worked to stabilize my brother's behavior and provide him what we, as a family and the people closest to the situation, have determined to be a safe, life-affirming alternative to what's generally available to those with such disabling problems. Anyone posting their moral outrage and so carefully thought out cries of torture and the like, should try just for once to look at the situation and the therapy from more than one, completely biased side. Ms. Gonnerman seems to have misrepresented herself in collecting her data (in a couple of ways that speak to a lack of care for journalistic ethics, such as they may be) so it is not too far a stretch to think maybe this piece misrepresents the subject by showing only the worst, most sensational view of an admittedly controversial approach. I freely admit that I have an interest in keeping the JRC open and continuing the course of treatments offered there (which are not only aversive, as Ms. Gonnerman would have us believe), and I have not been brainwashed or coerced into making any statement posted here. before you start judging and lambasting the JRC and its approach, at least consider the possibility that even Mother Jones might have gotten it completely and terribly wrong.

A prime example of adults victimizing/torturing children for the convenience and profits of the adults, in this case Mr. Israel. He belongs in a jail cell and should be electric shocked dozens of times daily, maximum strength shocks. Tortueres deserve to be tortured meaning Mr. Israel. A scientific Hitler. He gives a bad name to Jews, and is an embarassment. This is very clearly child abuse. Like teachers jamming Ritalin down the throats of kids who are naturally active in school. Tyranny of adults over kids. This is a worse human rights violation than anything else I have ever read occuring in America. The Governor of Massachusetts is worthless, and should send the state police ther eto shut it down today, and put Mr. Israel in jail for child abuse. Don't these kids have any rights to avoid being imprisoned and tortured this way? It is much worse than China and Iran combined. Those 2 countries would never stoop to such leglaized child abuse. It is sick, demented and must be stopped. Even if by vigilantes. Mr. Israel is a monster similiar to Nazi Dr. Menegele, and deserve the fate of Mengele. He is worse than a brutal, inhuman, vicious animal of the worst kind. Obviously he has no moral,s no ethcis and no conscience, and is an unprinciplied opportunist, doing this for his selfish, greedy profits, as a degenerate racket - literally torturing children daily. Years ago the townsfolk would have taken matter sin to their own hands, and hung him - rightfully so. No people have lost their moral compass and permit this blatant torturing of innocent chuldren by Mr. Israel/Menegele. Where is the Children's Defense Fund and its leader, Ms. Edelman, when these kids need her to stop evil Mr. Israel/Menegele from continuing to torture them? WHO WILL STOP HIM FROM TORTURING THEM AND WHEN???

I noticed the Mother Jones article while at Borders today searching for something totally different. Let me say that I have Aspergers myself, which is a high functioning form of autism. From personal experience, I can say that these behaviors are HARDWIRED into the brain of the autistic/developmentally disabled individual. Changing said behaviors is not easy, if it can be done at all. My father used to beat me into unconsciousness to change my behaviors, with limited success. I've been thrown out of one community college and several internet bulletin boards because of my verbal behaviors (in fact, I just had a membership deleted this morning). I was almost thrown out of my high school. Over the years, psychotropic drugs have made the symptoms manageable, but not eliminated them completely. I have found real therapy to be nearly impossible to come by and uncovered by Medicare (I am on SSI since I can't work) if I do find it. Everybody's got a crackpot theory, but real research on autism simply doesn't exist. The few autism research centers that exist seem focused on preventing the birth of autistic children, not on treating those who already exist. I am 32 and have heard everybody's crackpot theory, including having been dragged to an exorcist. (He seemed really confused as to why I sat calmly and smiled at him as he waved a cross in my face and chanted in Latin.) I've been to psychics and faith healers. I've been told to accept Jesus and/or that I was a bad seed/evil soul. I've been through it all. And I still get kicked off internet bulletin boards. I've tried to change, only to get nowhere despite being a willing candidate-the will is strong but the flesh is weak. Keeping people locked up for three decades, and hooked up to shock machines for half that, does nothing for them. I suspect that it just breaks their will, like longterm prisoners in hellish conditions, so that they go blank and cease to do much of anything. This can be construed as "improvement" when you haven't improved anything, just broken them. It's tempting to see some of these people, with their extreme behaviors, as wild broncos needing to be broken, but what works on a horse doesn't necessarily work on a human. I suspect that "Caroline" has been broken, although from the helmet she wears, three decades of confinement hasn't stopped everything. That's because she's hardwired to bang her head. How do you stop the banging? We should find out. Obviously, this doesn't work that well, unless you're talking about breaking a wild animal. I don't think autistics are wild animals, despite their wild behaviors.

I gotta be honest. Shocks don't sound like a great thing, but neither are drugs. I'm very tempted to consider a rare shock way better than doping these kids until they are catatonic and brain dead...

I advise school districts on how NOT to get sued. This article terrified me. I hope this sick tactic does not spread to other schools or there will be lawsuits galore. I hope Bush can't read the big words in this article, so he doesn't get any ideas on what to do with us after he declares martial law. This is inhuman.

As a former ABA behavior therapist for children with autism- this article sickens me. This is clearly torture and absolutely evil. It is being perpetrated on a helpless population behind closed doors. I do advocate measured spankings and negative consequences but this is so far past that. The students are completely helpless to receive pain at the whim or discretion of staff. As a mom of 4 I realize the temptation to overreact when a child misbehaves. I would like to see the staff and particularly the director wear these backpacks for 24 hours a day and see how soon until they have nervous breakdowns or go completely insane. The arrogance of these doctors and researchers is repulsive and truly Hitlerian. These are humans beings for heavens sakes. I pray that God will set these kids free from that place and CLOSE IT DOWN!!!!!! I do understand that the kids are out of control and troubled- but that does not justify this response (treatment) which is completely sadistic.

Children, and all of us, are poisoned by the vaccines, pesticides, flouridated (and aresenic-laden) water, mercury, lead, gmo-foods, just for starters. They short-circuit, physically and mentally, are labelled with diagnoses (spectra...redefined every few years...cancelled some years...repackaged others) and then are bombarded with shocks, drugs and the like, only guaranteed to further ferment the toxic brew of their sad body/mind contiuum. Yet another outrage among a plethora.

Horrible... absolutely HORRIBLE. I just finished reading on the death of Linda Cornelison. I (Being the mother that I am) Would not only sue the hell out of this institution.. I would have it shut down indefinately. How can you be allowed to treat PEOPLE like this? Disabilities or not! I am so mortified by this!

I lived in a mental institution on the U of C campus that was started by Bruno Bettelheim. The staff decided hitting children as young as six was better than drugs. And by hitting I don't mean a smack, I mean frequently Dr. B. made a fist and pounded kids on the head, took two kids and rammed their heads together, he once pulled a naked teen girl out of the shower and punched her in front of others. All of this corporal punishment was kept secret, until after he died and former students finally stepped forward to speak up. I arrived shortly after Dr. B. retired and the current director, a women, hired a former football player to hit the boys. A large, beefy man. The director took care of the girls. She punched, pulled hair, smacked girls in the face, etc. It took me years, but I found a way to look totally normal so as just to get out. For people who think drugs are worse than being constantly hit or shocked, think of what you would prefer. Punching, smacking, beating is shaming, and merely shoves the aggression underground. And I'm sure it dehumanizes the abusers. Even if some of those kids need to be physically restrained to stop themselves from severely hurting themselves then devise clothing for them to wear that makes it impossible for them to bite themselves. Put padding on the wall to soften the head banging. Dr. Israel seems to have enough money to hire someone to follow many of these kids around all day. Work out a therapy that at least can lead to a kind of trust between "student" and whatever these workers are called (SS guards comes to mind). A huge part of the problem is the lack of understanding and compassion for these victims. The head of this institution and his workers are able to act out their own aggressive responses to the children's wild behavior with no real concern for anything but control. I know at the U of C, staff just followed whatever Dr. B. told them for years or left and said nothing about abuse. It's up to the outer community to step in and see reason. The parents who demand such an institution exist have given in to their rage and horror for having a child who is so difficult. Again, it's up to the surrounding community to step in and stop this cruelty. Dr. Israel tells his staff to hide the shocking device so that the child can't tell when the shock is to be given. He requires this so the students can't find the time to tense their muscles to dull the pain. The children and young adults there know of this sadistic attitude towards themselves. These people are human and as fellow humans we must imagine what such sadistic attitudes and behavior directed at us would do to our psyches and, as the girl with the sign requested, "help".

i don't like it that you guys shock kids. because some of them can't even help what they are doing.please stop this i hate it!!!!!1

Your treatment can only be executed with close observation to the measurement and degree of problem to self ability. When you shock them and it does not work you have a problem....you not only pump adrenaline through the endocrine but you can scar, change, and mangle with the plasticity of the brain in either a good or bad way....but if their abilities are not adequate enough to have as much control as to what you want to accomplish then you are just scaring and hurting the PEOPLE. I am very disappointed.

haaaaaaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

it is unconceivable there would even be a debate of any kind over this treatment if it had been found within an institution/corrections facility for normal "bad" people. It seams that because they (challenged individuals)have a name attached to what is wrong with them we have to correct them. maybe we should stop labeling them. As Bryan pointed out,there is no real "place" to go to only lots of studies with conclusions that go nowere. Do you have any more updates on the progress of stopping the school in other states also. please let us know..we are waiting patiently..

Since the Psychs said it was

these physically challenged people get what they deserve. DURRRR ZAP!!! lol

the judge rotenburg center is the worst place on earth. children are sexually and physically abused. The judge rotenburg center is a jungle it's "survival of the fittest" with staff and students. Immoral staff members are usually the ones that last the longest, and the most cunning students are above "JRC law"

The more I read about him and Skinner, the more I can see parrells between his thinking and that of Bruno Bettelhiem. Only Dr. B didn't advocate hurting Autistic children, but they were both frauds in the same.