To Whom It May Concern:
I am the mother of a child that has Autism. My daughter at the present time is living at the Judge Rotenberg Center in Massachusetts where she is receiving skin shock treatment therapy for behavior modification
Before my daughter was sent to the Judge Rotenberg Center, she received a number of medications such as Resperdol, Ritain, Aldol, Vuspar, Topamax, and Seriquel. None of these medications worked. I also received services from several agencies in the Bronx to help me with my daughter and her aggression.
I got the point where I saw no hope for her or for myself. I was so overwhelmed with our situation and the fact that I could no longer handle her. Many of the agencies stop sending me help because of her violent behavior. Of the many Residential Habilitators that would come to my house to help, only one was able to try to control her. I could not even go outside with her for a walk or to buy necessary groceries because she would spit and hit strangers on impulse on the streets. Many times, I would get into arguments and altercations with total strangers because they did into understand why my daughter did what she did. She would also self-inflict injuries toward herself and become extremely aggressive and it continued to get worse. I could never have family or friends over to visit us because they were afraid of her. I was even banned from bringing her to a neighborhood McDonald’s because she posed many safety issues with the customers.
Since my daughter’s placement at the center, there has been a huge change in her behavior. She no longer self-inflects injuries toward herself, she is able to sit next to others without hurting them, and behave in a manner that she was not able to do before.
Please continue to help my daughter and others like her at the center from being sent back to New York. New York does not have facilities that can help and accommodate children like my daughter.
Thank you, sincerely,
P. Higgins