just about two weeks ago, I made a post discussing a very distressing topic based around a school in Massachusetts, US. called the Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC) being authorized to continue their use of Graduated Electronic Decelerator (GED) devices to torture Autistic children. (If you haven't read that post, please do first, as it will help this one to make more sense)
These have been two of the worst weeks I have ever had to live through, watching as my fellow Autistic advocates call out for help wherever possible, via Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, their own blogs, and the only people answering are other Autistic people doing the same thing.
now, this next point is going to be controversial, especially if I don't word it right, but please note if I do mess it up, I mean nobody any offense from this point.
Last year especially saw a massive rise in activism, especially regarding human rights and poor treatment of minority groups, with huge movements like Black Lives Matter (BLM) dominating social platforms for weeks or months straight.
It was an inspiring thing to witness, people the world over coming together for a common goal of ending the mistreatment of a group that doesn't deserve it.
However, I am saddened to see that the same care that's been given to minority groups previously has not been extended to the Autistic community. #StopTheShock was trending at #5 on Twitter for less than 3 hours, where #BlackLivesMatter didn't leave trending for nearly 2 months, and dominated the #1 spot for at least 3 straight weeks.
What is different here? In both cases, people are being mistreated, as mentioned in the first post, the actions of the JRC directly violate the 5th human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which is integrated into US constitution via the 8th Amendment.
In both cases, people have died. There have been at least 6 deaths at the JRC due to their use of GED devices, and hundreds, if not thousands, of hospitalizations due to the 'treatment' with many of the patients leaving with lifelong physical disabilities or other impairments as a result of the shocks.
the GED device operates at 90mA. For context to that, a taser operates at 2mA, a cattle prod is at 20mA, and from 50mA, it's potentially lethal, with 100mA guaranteeing at minimum permanent damage and often guaranteed death.
No, you're not misreading that, and no I did not make any mistakes in those numbers. The GED devices are only 10mA under a level that will almost definitely kill the wearer, and 40mA over the level at which the wearer is at risk of death from the device's use.
I ask again, why is this any different? Autistic people don't feel safe being ourselves for fear we get sent to places like these, and it leads to nothing but masking and trauma. We feel forced to hide who we are from the world because the world won't accept who we are, and the only people speaking up about this are Autistic people.
The JRC has been doing this since at the earliest 1994, when the original patent for the GED device was filed by the school's founder, Matthew Israel.
The UN declared the use of the devices torture as of 2013, yet has not acted to stop the school doing it.
The FDA declared it illegal last year, but the US court of appeals for the D.C. circuit decided that the devices were okay for use on Autistic children.
I'm gonna include a quick image here which shows who or what it is legal to shock with a GED in America, created by a fellow Autistic Advocate (@AutSciPerson on twitter, highly recommend following them)
if you cannot see the problem in this image, then you'll likely find that you're a part of said problem.
This needs to stop, and more Neurotypical voices need to start speaking out and helping us. We cannot fight this injustice alone, no matter what we try. We aren't numerous enough for it.
The only way to stop the JRC and the abuses of human rights committed upon Autistic children there is if we all work together.
Parents, if your son or daughter acted out of line, would you like if their teacher took out a device 45 times more powerful than a taser and shocked them for it?
I struggle to imagine anyone said yes to that.
We must all act together, share information from Autistic people online, sign the petitions to shut the school. Contact your representatives (if you're in America. From other countries, that last one won't really do much)
The longer the JRC gets away with it, the more likely it is that more schools will open adopting its vulgar methods.
Stay safe everyone, and remember, #StopTheShock and shut down the JRC.
- Josh.
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