Torture of autistics at the Judge Rothenberg Center

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I dunno, but I think whoever came up with that "exception" should have a couple thousand volts run through THEIR body. See what it feels like, the sick bastard(s).

This is sick beyond words and it is also EXTREMELY psychologically faulty (which given the centre apparently allows Laymen with highschool diploma's to call themselves psychologists) its no suprise.

This is not "Aversion Therapy" this is psychological conditioning of the brainwashing variety and it has a huge huge problem beyond the VERY immoral and inhuman methods used, it eventually breaks down exposing the very disturbed and injured person beneath the Programmed responses.

What makes me truely sick is this.

WHY are there parents of autistic kids who approve of this facility and those like it (dont be fooled, its probably not the only one)?

Because having being told their child is Sick and can be "cured", immediately absolves them of whatever difficulties they we're having as parents, whether they we're competent or not, WHY are some parents getting their potentially borderline autistic or HFA children "treated"? because it makes THEIR OWN lives easier, raising an autistic child is hard, but not impossible and maybe im a true cynic but i really doubt "its in my childs best interests" is the majority of cases.

I hope everyone in that centre is Jailed and the centre is Levelled, because the "bosses" of it, will just move elsewhere to carry on.

Edit: Ive decided to be proactive and wish some help with this from All of you, I intend to provide in my next post a list of links to articles (newspapers) and the various PDFs, what help i want from you who's reading this is to search for every local and national newspaper in YOUR country and get "you have a story?" or "contact us" email address, get a BIG list, then email the list of links Ive posted to ALL those addresses, Im in the UK and we've heard nothing of this it seems to be being kept local/minority, if the info gets in the hands of most national and local newspapers globally, this might get stamped on.

So I suppose if NTs have their way, like Autism Speaks, they'd do this to ALL of us? Until we're re-programmed to "fit" in to society? Where's the nearest TARDIS, Enterprise, Heart of Gold, or Vogon Ship to get me OFF this planet?

They'd have to kill me first, and rest assured that if they tried, the majority of them would be joining me in Hell.

Sounds like Shutter Island without the twist.

who would do this to children? electroshock is dangerous enough for adults let alone minors.

the most sickening aspect of this story is how some of the students were there because they suffered from ptsd because of abuse, and inflicting sadistic punishents on them is essentially blaming victims for their issues. those kids need love and understanding not shock treatment and demoralisation. its terrible to even think about placing those kids in another abusive environment after what they have already been through.

one article on this topic in the journal, Mother Jones, mentioned that they do not even provide talking therapy for the children with emotional problems, all they do is torture them, meaning that they could not care less about the welfare of their students. they are just worthless tools who are promoting more ineffective treatments so they can profit off the misery of others. if anything those who work in that place would rather take their most base impulses on individuals who are more vulnerable.

it also seems as if the abuse and death rates there are undereported, since any parent who places their kid where 6 people have died of the treatments should not have children, and most likely neglect them.

this story is not surprising but it still further erodes my trust in the justice system. 6 children have died in this concentration camp and it is still allowed to run? people sue now for the most ridiculous reasons, yet there is no initiative to stop this? those who have ignored pleas to end these treatments are most likely the same people who have ignored pleas of women to get restraining orders against abusive partners.

there was one line in the mother jones article saying "The Rotenberg Center is the only facility in the country that disciplines students by shocking them, a form of punishment not inflicted on serial killers or child molesters or any of the 2.2 million inmates now incarcerated in U.S. jails and prisons".

this reminds me of how the disabled and emotionally ill are always treated disproportionately worse just because they do not fit in. are the staff that work in that place really giving aversive treatments to these kids because they are violent, or because, as many articles have pointed out, they do not fit the cookie cutter description of the obediant child? these children should be consistently thought of in terms of their wellfare, rather than as their parents' property.

I wonder if even all of these children are violent, or severely autistic or ret*d, or whether they have just been unfairly placed with delinquents or low iq people just because there is something quirky about them that their parents were too small minded to tolerate. these stories of dictatorial people who work in mental institutions reminds me of how during the inquisition, people were sentenced to death as witches for being slightly different.

according to wikipedia, many of these children develop ptsd after staying there, which means that this school does nothing to improve their students, it only worsens their problems. obviously, they only appear to be better behaved because they have been bullied and intimidated by the "responsible adults" who took care of them. it is likely that those who were inappropriately placed there were much worse after and that their stigmatization as deviant became a self fullfilling prophecy, which most likely makes it more difficult for them to advocate for themselves if they wish to. i once read a book called Women of the Asylum, where several women have described what happens behind the closed doors of the hospitals, and many of them mentioned that although they were not insane before being locked up for ridiculous reasons, such as disagreeing with their husbands or having different religious views, they became so after the brutality that many of them suffered.

it seems difficult for people in these kinds of settings to get support when they are being physically abused, since their compaints are only seen as the manifestations of delusions or disconnectedness from reality, and the most negligent infractions are seen as manifestations of insanity or noncompliance.

I'm glad something is finally being done about this place, and I hope it not only gets shut down, but that those who tortured those poor students get prison time.

What's the betting (probability) the JR staff are are cowering behind a military grade firewall?

It's not that they might me cowering behind a military grade firewall. It's that they ARE cowering behind a military grade firewall.


Aspie's need to protest the center and take the matter to court. The abuse and mistreatment needs to stop. The staff should be tried in court for privacy violations, abuse, assault, and for some murder 2 people have died from "treatments" from the center such as induced starvation and use of the shock device. JRC NEEDS to be shutdown immediately.

Outtakes from the visitation report linked in this thread, for those unwilling to read it all:

It seems to me that when the students actively "plot against" the staff there is an institutional flaw: A good relationship with the staff is necessary for education and the treatment of emotional problems.

This speaks for itself, I think.

While the need for video surveillance might be understandable, this is a ridiculous and entirely unnecessary breach of privacy.

When the same electric shock is administered for "slouch in chair" or "failure to maintain a neat appearance", this completely destroys any benefit the shock therapy might have because behaviors aren't distinguished, and shocks may be administered for entirely subjective things so the student does not learn.

So a student falls unconscious and receives a continuous electric shock? Forget torture, that's murder. And not only so, this is clearly in violation of every FDA regulation ever, yet the JRC is still using this.

Clearly this is a criminal institution, even in "the system", but it has managed to evade being shut down through no-doubt unscrupulous practice. This violates basic human rights and does so to the most vulnerable, yet it's happening right there in Massachusetts...

Is there any way we can picket outside the center or write a petition to lawmakers? I've been hearing about this place for a while and only now have I heard about it getting investigated. This isn't even going into the human rights violation issue (not that the US follows the UDHR but still).

NTs do not actively resist moral behavior, generally speaking. They're scared to step out of line. Honestly, I think the reason they think this is okay is because it's exactly what happens to them-- they look badly groomed, they do anything to upset someone whose opinion they value, they do anything but be sheep, and they feel it, even without electrodes.

That in mind, I understand why they might see it as okay, as a replacement of "normal" feelings. However, the other thing about NTs is, they'll pick up on your outrage. If you can be charismatic, they'll key their beliefs to yours. And they like to protect children.

If there were great public outrage, this would end; they can't afford to antagonize the public that badly. There's no need to bomb them. Further, to do so would place us in the same category-- people who are needlessly cruel. THERE IS NO KILL LIKE OVERKILL, right? Wrong. You can also go to jail for bombing them, and we can use all the help we can get in changing society; why sacrifice yourself?

No, there's a better way to deal with this. A simple and elegant way. A written, paper petition. Or preferably several. Mailed, or taken personally, to whoever has the power to do something about this. To your senator. To Barack Obama.

The more charismatic among us should write out what the problem is and what we want to see done (we want the Judge Rotenberg Center shut down, and we want them to pay for REAL therapy for their current (soon to be former) "students"), and go out and ask the NTs in their community to sign it. Then when you have an impressive number of signatures, send it to someone important. Paper is better than email in this case because it's much easier to forge electronic signatures and email addresses.

The benefit will be twofold. First, it will alert the public to the problem. Second, it will demonstrate that awareness to those with the power to do something about it.

I bet lab rats are treated better than the poor children at the school.

I had totally put that g-dforsaken place - as in actually forsaken by any divine being who has most assuredly observed all of humanity if they exist - after reading ~15 pages of court documents out of morbid interest.

I see no fundamental difference between their aversives and simply cutting the child with a knife, but schools that do that sort of thing are widely reviled and pretty much extinct.. Honestly, if someone is going to be using aversives a lot, then that method would probably be less painful than electrodes.

Why don't we go back to bed rest and trepanning if this is seen as viable by some people?

Made a facebook page called Nicks militia a while back. So if at anytime someone wants to lead the HFA community to supporting and following our 2nd amendment, then Im down too.

That's really unlikely to work. You'll probably be caught and arrested. Further, there is a bias in NTs (hasn't been studied in us) to perceive someone as either an actor or an object. We want the NTs in charge to see the JRC as responsible for their own actions, and doing something such as attacking them will make that harder.

I'm telling you, this is a matter of swaying public opinion. Circulate a petition. Write to your senator. Etc. Just show the people in charge that the public is upset. And get the word out to the NTs. (A petition would be good for that, and you could then send it to someone who matters.) Whatever bribes might be offered, they will pale in comparison to the thought that the entire populace wants to see justice done and will be upset if the JRC gets another slap on the wrist.

And it's all legal, so our manpower, instead of getting arrested, will remain unscathed in case there is ever a real need for battle.