wow this is not a post I wanted to have to make, but here we are.
This'll take me a while to write, since this will be emotionally charged and I'm going to end up rewriting several lines of it multiple times.
before this one starts, I feel obligated to leave trigger warnings for torture/abuse of Autistic people, and extreme ableism. Please proceed with caution.
let's start this one simple. Who are the JRC?
The Judge Rotenberg Center is a school in the US for Autistic children. It has been called out for using extreme methods of Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) such as their "Graduated Electronic Decelerator" or GED. We'll get back to this one in a minute.
next, what are GEDs?
the JRC created devices called GEDs in order to "administer electric shocks residents through a remote control" - already raising red flags here.
these devices were officially declared illegal in 2020 by the FDA, and today, that ban was just overturned.
the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decided that the FDA was acting outside of its authority in banning the use of these devices, and has overturned their decision to make it illegal.
why are GEDs a problem?
a video released online in 2011 in which an Autistic resident of the JRC was tied down to a board and shocked 31 times at the highest setting.
The first one was for refusing to take off his coat.
The other 30 were for crying out in pain at the previous shock.
This boy was later hospitalized with 3rd degree burns.
another incident had two residents awoken from their beds in the middle of the night, restrained and then shocked 77 and 29 times respectively on a (FALSE) allegation they had misbehaved.
let me ask you this:
teachers - do you shock your students when they misbehave or don't follow a simple instruction?
parents - do you restrain your kids on their beds and shock them because you're pretty sure they misbehaved?
finally - anyone - would you be comfortable knowing your child is having this happen to them?
GEDs and their continued use is an abuse of the basic human rights of Autistic people. The UN has declared what the JRC does as torture, and many, MANY Autistic people have spoken out about how dangerous the JRC's methods are.
In the time they have operated, six of their residents have died under their "care" and many more have gone on to suffer from extreme PTSD, subservience and abuse into their later life.
a report by the New York State Education Department in 2006 found that the devices were used regularly even without threat of serious physical harm or injury to the Autistic person or anyone around them, unlike what the JRC claimed they were used for.
Reasons could include:
- failing to be neat
- wrapping one's foot around the leg of a chair
- stopping working for more than 10 seconds
- closing one's eyes for more than 5 seconds
- minor acts of non-compliance
- using the bathroom without permission
- urinating on oneself after being refused the right to use the bathroom
- screaming as a response to being shocked
- attempting to remove the device.
in the UN declaration of Human Rights, the 5th right is that "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" - this directly violates that, meaning that as far as these people are concerned, including the Court of Appeals that authorized the continued use of these devices today, Autistic people are not human. Autistic people are less than human and we do not matter enough to prevent this from happening.
This is so wrong on so many levels.
finally - what can I do to help?
petitions have been started, this is the primary one people are signing:
secondly, SHARE THE INFORMATION. Autistic people have been filling the hashtag on twitter, I've just presented all of this information, share it around, get the word out how disgusting the acts of the JRC are, and how they've been allowed to continue abusing human rights and together we can put an end to it!
thank you all for reading, I apologize if this comes off as more disjointed and emotionally charged than usual, but this isn't an easy topic to write for.
Stay safe everyone, and #StopTheShock
- Josh.
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