#stoptheshock
If you want to help the #StopTheShock campaign and end the torture of disabled people at the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, MA, this is how. If you are in the US you can now sign an open letter to US Congress by following the link below. The letter calls for an amendment to the Keeping All Students Safe Act (KASSA) which would prohibit the use of aversives on disabled students, including the Graduated Electronic Decelerator (GED) which is the device used at the JRC to administer painful electric shocks for behaviours such as talking out of turn, stimming or even for taking too long to remove a coat.
https://resist.bot/petitions/PWEXKJ
Once you follow the link it’s as simple as sending a text to the number shown. You can also print the page with the QR code and put it up on bulletin boards to raise awareness!
If you are not living in the US there are other ways to help, see this previous post, the AuTeach website and the rest of this blog for details. Share this message far and wide, and hopefully we can make a difference to the students at the JRC. Thank you.
The pinned post on this blog will direct you to action points to help fight this decision, even if you are outside the US.
Escaping the Judge Rotenberg Center, Jennifer Msumba. (Trigger warning: Abuse and torture of disabled children). The video is captioned.
TheJudge Rotenberg Center is a special needs day and residential school located in Canton, Massachusetts which accepts ages 5 to adult.
They use behaviour modification to control their residents such as Applied Behaviour Analysis. But in some cases, they also use extreme and torturous forms of punishment such as prolonged restraint, food deprivation and electric shocks.
Theskin shock is not to be confused with ECT, which is done for very different reasons and also under anesthesia, so that the person doesn’t feel any pain.
No, Electric Skin Shock, also known as the Graduated Electronic Decelerator, is MEANT TO CAUSE SEVERE PAIN in order to punish undesired behaviours in actual children and adults.
This is Jennifer Msumba’s story of how she escaped the Judge Rotenberg Center. If you have 14 minutes to spare, please watch this video (or save it to come back to it when you have time).
She describes what her life was like at the JRC and what it felt like to be shocked by one of these devices. She was under court-appointed guardianship so her parents had no say in where she stayed or what therapy she underwent.
After her first escape attempt, she was secluded for two months and kept in restraints in a cold isolation room. Her home visits had already been taken away from her and if staff members heard her say anything negative about the JRC on the phone to her mom, the call would be terminated instantly.
This is what the #StopTheShock campaign is really about.
I have no idea if any of you are aware of this currently, but the Canton School of Disabled Students in Massachusetts has just recently appealed to allow shock therapy as a form of “behavioral correction” by the Federal Court. The device they have appealed to the court is called, the GED (Graduated Electronic Decelerator) a device that is more painful than a taser and has been known to cause psychological trauma and third-degree burns. They deem this device as necessary to prevent bodily harm and death, but this device has been used in conjunction with other atrocious practices that have been condemned by the United Nations since 1971, such as physical abuse, essential deprivation of foods and liquids, isolation, and causing the death of five of their students.
Here are some news organizations that have covered this subject, autistic advocates who are raising awareness of the subject, and documented footage of the device in action. In addition, I have also linked several petitions, letter templates, and contacts for those of you who would be willing to do so:
Eiza Wolfe and Vyridean’s TikTok Video
Judge’s Rotenburg’s Center Torturing Disabled Person Video {WARNING: Graphic}
What is ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis)? Why is it Abuse?
The U.S. Sun: July 9th, 2021
The Boston Globe: July 7th, 2021
NBC News: July 9th, 2021
Business Insider: July 10th, 2021
WCVB5: July 7th, 2021
The Hill: July 8th, 2021
NBC News: April 28th, 2021
The Guardian: March 5th, 2020
Petition: Chloe Hayden’s
How to help the Stop The Shock Campaign
As you may already know, on July 6th 2021, a federal court overturned an FDA ban on the use of electroshock devices on disabled people at the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, MA; which the United Nations recognises as torture.
If you are unsure how to help, or executive dysfunction is getting in the way, TikTok user @/virydeansea has put together a step-by-step guide to the current action points listed on auteach.com which are also listed below (slightly modified for tumblr to include links).
1.Google auteach or follow this link to auteach.com
2.Scroll down on the homepage and click the purple Help Nowbutton.
3. In a separate tab, open up your email.
4. Create new draft.
5. In the new draft, copy and paste the provided script.
6.Edit the script with some personal notes. (Basically just tell them why you decided to help! What does this mean to you personally?)
7.Choose an organisation to address the email to (full list at the bottom of the Help Now page).
8.Edit the script to contain the name of the organisation/people in power.
9. Give your email a subject. (URGENT: Stop the Shock).
10.Hit Send.
If you have made it this far, thank you. Please also remember that the Judge Rotenberg Center disproportionately holds children of colour, so this is very much a racial issue as well as a disability rights issue. We cannot allow inhumane torture devices to be banned only to decide to make an exception just for disabled children of colour, especially during Disability Pride Month.
Like, reblog, spread the word, and most importantly please make sure to follow through with sending these emails. This fight has been ongoing for years and we need your support.
Wondering what to do next to help the #StopTheShock movement? AuTeach is hosting a live event for Stop the Shock on Facebook and YouTube, with guests Lydia X. Z. Brown & Shain Neumeier on July 11th, 2021 at 12pm PST.
For details please see the details on the AuTeach website which will take you to the Facebook or YouTube page, where you can subscribe and set an automatic reminder for the event. (If, like me, time zones give you a headache, Facebook and YouTube will convert them for you).
More info on this ‘using electric shock punishment on disabled people’ thing.
Update to heads of depts in above article:
Secretary of Health and Human Services under Biden is now Xavier Becerra. His twitter is SecBecerra.
His email is the same: Secretary @ hhs . gov
Acting Commissioner of FDA is now Janet Woodcock. Her twitter is DrWoodcockFDA.
This linked article has more info on the Judge Rottenberg Center in Canton, Massachusetts, which is using electric shock cuffs to 'regulate’ unwanted behavior (such as stimming) in disabled children and adults.
TW: The above article contains description of torture and includes an image of a burn sustained by a survivor of the electroshock device.
STOP THE SHOCK
Please stop scrolling and please take 26 seconds to watch this video (TW: Abuse of disabled people):
(Reposted by kind permission of @/auteach on TikTok).
This blog will be dedicated to the #StopTheShock campaign and will include survivors’ stories and action points to help fight this decision and stop the torture of autistic people.
For a current list of action points, head over to the AuTeach website.PLEASE REBLOG and spread the word, even if you are not autistic, and follow this blog for updates.
Just to clear up some misconceptions I have seen elsewhere: This is not the same as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). This is a device called a graduated electronic decelerator (GED) worn on the ankle which is used to administer remote electric shocks as a form of corporal punishment.
There is a group of people who are fighting a legal battle to be allowed to shock disabled children simply for displaying traits related to their disability. And they are winning.
TW: ABUSE AND TORTURE
This is an interview with Jennifer Msumba on her experience of shock torture at the Judge Rotenberg Centre in Canton, MA.
Jen is a YouTuber and a musician. She tells the story of how she was shocked for minor infringements or even for no reason at all.
