US bans shock 'treatment' on children with special needs at Boston-area school
FDA ban brings an end to decades-long battle against use of aversive therapy at the Judge Rotenberg Center in Massachusetts
Ed Pilkington in New York
@edpilkington
Thu 5 Mar 2020 12.06 EST
The US government has banned an electric shock machine that is used to zap children and young adults with special needs in a school outside Boston the only institution in the world known to practice the controversial punishment treatment.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has taken the extremely rare move of imposing a total ban on the production and use of the electric shock machines, known as electrical stimulation devices. It said the ban only the third such comprehensive prohibition of a medical device in FDA history was necessary to protect public health.
The ban brings to an end a decades-long battle against the use of electric shocks at the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center (JRC) in Canton, Massachusetts. Disability groups and international human rights organisations have campaigned ceaselessly to outlaw the use of so-called aversive therapy, where pain is inflicted on vulnerable children in order to discourage them from self-harming or aggressive behavior.
More than 40 special needs residents of JRC, many with severe forms of autism, are understood to be on the electric shock regime. Managers of the center insisted the device was safe and pointed out that the use of shocks was approved in each case by the state family courts.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/05/us-bans-electric-shock-treatment-children-boston-area
dewsgirl
(14,961 posts)janterry
(4,429 posts)bad that they would bloody themselves, regularly - give themselves concussions. With that kind of abuse, kids can cause themselves to go blind (for example)
I've never worked there - but I am aware of the work they did. They did it as an adversive in very extreme cases.
I don't know the overall efficacy - or any of the specifics (you can research it if you want to form a good opinion).
But their population was very specific and causing themselves very serious harm.
dewsgirl
(14,961 posts)issues. I would think medication would be a better option than EST.
janterry
(4,429 posts)I mean, you could use a chemical restraint every time there was an incident (that happens all the time in places like this). But the downside would be that whole cycle (acting out, staff intervene physically - which is negatively reinforcing for some kids) and then hold them down and restrain them.
In the end, you'd basically be sedating them.
As I've said, I've never even been in the facility - so I'm not sure
but each case was approved by a judge (so it wasn't just on staff to develop the tx. plan).
If I had a child that was self-harming to that extent - I don't know. They also get big (as in, very difficult to intervene with physically).
For me, if this were my child and we tried a short trial of an adversive - IF the behavior were that damaging - and we tried it for a few weeks. Maybe. I'd sure want to try everything else before that. But if nothing else was helping, I don't know.
Having your child physically restrained by four or five staff isn't a great thing, either.
dewsgirl
(14,961 posts)all involved.
Squinch
(51,075 posts)Aristus
(66,509 posts)janterry
(4,429 posts)n/t
cwydro
(51,308 posts)I know youre essentially on the front line there.
Keep us posted!
CaptYossarian
(6,448 posts)Skittles
(153,261 posts)he literally did not know who I was