From the Comments section,
School of Shock article by Jennifer Gonnerman (in the August 20, 2007 edition of
Mother Jones):
Comments:They probaly should get Ceasar Milano in that place to teach how to handle dogs. They already have the leashes. Ohhh. Maybe not. I think that would be against the LAW. ANIMAL ABUSE. Lemme see. Dem drugs didn't work like the drug companies hoped. At least they got some free trials. Hey. Maybe we can do what they used to do. Yeah, that's it. Look at the behavior modifications. Wow. We're really smart. Then we can all pray to Jesus for the kids to be better HUMANS. May they all suffer similar fates!
Posted by: TheDude1369 on August 20, 2007 4:42:58 AMWhen are they (the school and parents)going to open their eyes and stop hurting our children? Why hasn't this facility been shut down? This is barbaric!
Posted by: Lisa on August 20, 2007 10:19:58 AMI tried to be objective reading the story as I understand what it is like to deal with violent patients. Yet I cannot understand how shocking someone 5000 times in one day is not criminal assault.Also what does it take before it is recognized something, or a technique is not working. I find the story frightening from the fact that this extreme form of behavior modification is allowed. I have to wonder if allowed what addtional steps would be taken to correct a behavior.
Posted by: Jim on August 20, 2007 11:03:37 AMI am utterly horrified. I have worked with people with developmental disabilities and I understand the difficulty, however, I think that resorting to torture is wholly and completely unacceptable. If these "treatments" worked, they wouldn't have to be escalated constantly, and the students would change their behavior. Scientifically, the definition of punishment is an aversive that when applied reduces the occurence of a behavior. If the behavior is continuing, the punishment is ineffective. Currently, I train dogs, and many dog trainers feel that the use of electric shock is inhumane in nearly every instance. I certainly can't condone the use on human beings. Cinder Wilkinson-Kenner
Posted by: cinder Wilkinson on August 20, 2007 1:16:07 PMthey used to treat depression with shock therapy, who says throwbacks can't happen monkeys? Sounds like hell, glad my meds work
Posted by: victor on August 20, 2007 1:35:28 PMelectric shocks, if it taught lab rats then it must work for humans right? Someone just happened to miss that tiny little detail thatlab rats also infected with cancer and HIV, experimented on and mutilated. but thats incosequential right?
Posted by: kmk on August 20, 2007 1:42:50 PMare WE shocked? we shouldn't be... its not as if the information isn't OUT THERE... the fact is... if we KNEW a couple who stuffed their kids into this "care"... how many of us would 'get their hands dirty' to help? worse yet, how many of us are *actively involved* in children in our neighbourhoods? with litigous parents, territorial 'professionals', domineering "I have ONE kid, an All-Terrain Carriage & I'm a Misunderstood GODDESS"-Preppy Mothers, & the general suspicions that ANY adult who wishes to even TALK to kids is a pedophile... who of us isn't too AFRAID of the old adage, "no Good Deed goes unpunished..." our VILLAGES' children are being taught by television & marketing... & little else as our communities become more & more 'privatized'... ...& we all suffer, not *just* the most vulnerable... Spread Love... ... but wear the Glove! BlueBerry Pick'n can be found @ ThisCanadian DOT com "Silent Freedom is Freedom Silenced"
Posted by: BlueBerry Pick'n on August 20, 2007 2:00:35 PMThis place is just a training school for sadists.
Posted by: zak822 on August 20, 2007 2:20:49 PMI find it distressing that children with RAD (as the two foster kids mentioned) can be subjected to this. That is the very last treatment a RAD child should receive.
Posted by: Possible Parent on August 20, 2007 2:36:01 PMI am a teacher in the field of special education who works with students with emotional or behavioral disorders, as well as a manager of both residential and vocational programs for adults with developmental disabilities in the state of Oregon. I deal with some of the hardest and most violent students in my school district, as well as work to help adults with mental illnesses that can lead to many serious and dangerous behaviors. AT NO POINT, EVER, WOULD I EVEN THINK TO BEGIN A BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION PROGRAM THAT RELIES SOLELY, IF AT ALL, ON AVERSIVE TECHNIQUES THAT ARE MUCH MORE TORTURE THAN EFFECTIVE! In a state (MA) that is nationally heralded for an amazing public school system, I am shocked that this type of institution would continue to be tolerated ON ANY LEVEL! Not only is what Israel doing not in line with current research-based practices in the field, it seems sickenly obvious that he has decided to do what he likes because he enjoys the controversy, or worse, the control and power over beings more hapless than he. Please, if you have the time, write to the House of Reps and Senators from the state of MA (at the state and federal level) and encourage them to stand up for students with disabilities who are being abused!
Posted by: Erin on August 20, 2007 2:50:57 PMIs the Bush administration running this place?! Sure sound like it. Torture the children to SAVE the children! What will Christians think of next!? Oh! I know, Water Boarding!
Posted by: john copeland on August 20, 2007 3:27:28 PMThis fellow Israel is a sado- masochistic sicko and needs to be shut down. Have we become so insensitive as a culture that we can allow our less fortunate citizens to be tortured at the hands of a mad doctor and just look the other way. We are a sick society and the medicalization of every little twitch is social control at the most hideous
Posted by: http://wwf.fornits.com/viewtopic.php?t=22929[/color][/list]
To the lawyer: It's so nice that you are still ambulance chasing with no success. I am one of the parents who has a child that your fraudulant lawsuit has affected. Why don't you tell the bloggers where your client is now. Is Sagamore State Hospital still holding him down with meds and a straight jacket? What about the fact that he sexually assaulted his siblings. How about the area residents he robbed and harrassed during his stay at home. Let's not forget the fact that his "mom" put him there to keep him at of jail. And why did "mom" leave him alone with his siblings knowing he was dangerous. Oh that's right she was celebrating her birthday! Mr. Ken Mollins you are like all the other leeches who talk alot but don't really care. You hyped this up knowing it was bull. You and his "mother" had no idea what you were in for. Sure mom took him out of JRC but where is he now? NOT AT HOME!!!!!!! If his mother was so distraught about her son's treatment she would have took him home. That's not what she did and you are misleading the public by making them think this is some poor family we should feel for. The real deal: JRC uses skin shock as an additional form of treatment. There is no lasting effect on the child. They accept children that no other school will and they actually help them. Mr. Mollins client knew exactly what JRC was about when she brought him there and to say otherwise is a straight up lie. The enrollment process is two hours long and when you leave your child there you know everything about the school. This child's mother not only knew what was up she or one of her family members used it on her "son". Like Rob this kid didn't need JRC he needs jail. Mr. Mollins client was abused from birth and like anyone in his situation he fought back. His method was wrong because his "mother" did not re-direct him. I guess she had too many other foster kids to handle him. As a parent it is your job to maintain your child. If you know your child is trying to live the "thug life" then don't send them to a school drop them off at the police station. If you allow your child to grow up with a free rein don't complain later. JRC's treatment plan is not for everyone. They do not force anyone to enroll their child there. As a parent I would remove my child in a heartbeat if I found their treatment to be less than acceptable. This whole lawsuit is about the money it costs. The school has been there for years but somebody found out the cost and now they are upset. If they shut down the school where will these kids go? No answer! Why because there is no place. My child is ompleting her last year at JRC. Because of their help she will be coming home instead of going to a state facility. All you bleeding hearts should come to NYC and take a look inside OMRDD's group homes. The abuse and neglect is outrageous. But it's ok right? Don't use skin shock but it's ok to kick somebody in the head or push them down the stairs and break their leg.(see New York Daily News article Sunday Aug.19,2007 page 9) To Mr. Mollins and his bandwagon: Mind your own business. I don't see anyone jumping up to take any of these children into their home. But you think you have the right to dictate to us. Why don't you focus your energy on the kids walking the street doing what your client has done. And to everyone who feels the need to speak on this issue know what you are talking about. Lawyers are actors. They are supposed to spin the web but as thinking adults with some intelligence we are supposed to look past the script and look for the truth. Get off the bandwagon unless you can produce a viable alternative which to date nobody has done.
Posted by: Sue Handon on August 24, 2007 6:05:02 AM
This is a disgusting practice
Posted by: Marilyn Nathan on August 24, 2007 6:41:35 AM
This is against the law!!! If a parent tries to correct a child, is been called Child Abuse... Now, can someone explain to me what is this been call. THIS IS CHILD ABUSE, THIS IS CHILD ABUSE.The state should start looking on how to close this schools. STOP THE CHILD ABUSE!!!!!
Posted by: JESSICA on August 24, 2007 6:46:41 AM
This is against the law!!! If a parent tries to correct a child, is been called Child Abuse... Now, can someone explain to me what is this been call. THIS IS CHILD ABUSE, THIS IS CHILD ABUSE.The state should start looking on how to close this schools. STOP THE CHILD ABUSE!!!!!
Posted by: JESSICA on August 24, 2007 6:47:39 AM
Tale of Twin Brothers I have identical twin brothers and a daughter with autism. I am also a practicing psychiatrist who specializes in autism. One brother banged his head into sharp corners requiring surgery. He was in the hospital for five and a half months and despite having a staff member present with him around the clock he continued to need repeated suturing for repeated head banging. This all occurred despite a cocktail of five medications with their adverse effects of obesity, tardive dyskinesia, loss of ability to verbally communicate, drooling and excessive daytime sedation. The board of education told my mother that no educational facility would accept my brother and she was requested to waive his right to an education. Furthermore, the medical insurance was running out and my parents were told they could be held responsible for hospitalization costs. I remember my father wondering if the hospital could take our house. However, through my mother's physician she was informed about the Judge Rotenberg Center. He has been there for nineteen years and doing quite well on no medication. We have taken him on trips to other states but to all those positive behavior only enthusiasts when my brother was in the hospital, WHERE WERE YOU THEN? My other brother was functioning quite well and as an adult had a full time job for three years without any medication and was travel trained. He moved into a New York State OMRDD (Organization of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities) funded agency residence while holding this job. Well now he is obsessive with setting fires and has tried to set a peer on fire. He is frequent flyer in the hospital and has failed positive behavior supports with functional analysis and about fifteen medication trials but not without having obesity, tardive dyskinesia, sedation and seizures from them. This is the story of his current hospitalization: He was upset a staple was out of place on a chair, but after being reassured appeared calm for about fifteen minutes. Then he ran out and into the traffic and punched a stranger accross the street who wanted to call the police. Speaking of police, I just evaluated a girl with autism who is terrified of police. She wasn't afraid before her New York State public school called the police after she threw a chair but not at anyone. The police threatened her with pepper spray, handcuffed her, put her back in a squad car alone and told her to keep her head down and not move. So this is the way New York State handles agitation in an autistic child. Speaking of agitation, my parents are now quite agitated that they were told two days ago that they may be responsible for my brother's current hospital bill as the insurance is running out. His OMRDD funded residence is not comfortable taking him back. Perhaps one of these positive behavior only enthusiasts can take him home. I suggest this positive behavior enthusiast may sure his or her smoke detectors are functioning so between the positive behavior support and the smoke detectors we can be sure at least one method will work. However, if positive behavior only enthusiasts do not want my brother around can they at least help my parents pay his hospital bill?
Posted by: Ilana Slaff, M.D. on August 24, 2007 7:20:14 AM
There is no doubt in my mind that this school should be shut down and it's teachers prosecuted for assault. We are talking about human beings with human rights here. Apologists for this assault claim the only alternatives are drug treatments or other failed behavioural strategies. This is not true. All behaviours have meaning. Find out what the person is trying to communicate and respond to that. Listen to these children and treat them as human beings. The 'rewards' the school offers are all things that any child should have access to, opportunities to play and socialise are not a 'reward' they are the basic rights of any child. Finding ways to listen to people whose communication we find difficult to understand may be difficult and time consuming and requires creativity, and imagination. In the end however it is the only way to support people to find quality in their lives. Israels programme is the opposite of humanity, it has no intention of listening to or learning from the people it supports, it has no creativity, life or love, it does not allow individuality or self-expression but enforces strict, sadistic, fascistic conformity to arbitrary rules. It is horrifying that at the start of the 21st Century, we are seeing treatments that would have been unacceptable even in the worst of the 19th Century asylums.
Posted by: Max on August 24, 2007 7:30:08 AM
My child attends currently attends JRC. My child was in a mental hospital for a year and a half waiting for a school that best for him. His IQ was low and he had behavoir problems. I gave permission for the Board of Ed.to look outside of New York. Low and behold they presented JRC. I have tried the GED myself. And its not that painful. I would much rather use the GED than to have my son spaced out on drugs. That's not living. Of course, my son doesn't like it. What child would? That's only natural. Children complain when it comes to disipline. I just want to say that I read this articile. Please don't believe everything you read. If the school was half as bad as this article makes it out to be I would've taken my child out of it a long time ago.
Posted by: Loretta Harrison on August 24, 2007 8:22:40 AM
How the [deleted] is this school not shut down. How can the parents sit by while their children are abused day after day for something as small as getting out of their seat? Mr. Israel Is an evil EVIL EVIL man who needs to be stopped. His schools need to be shut down and the children who attend this torture centers need to be put in care that will actually help thim. A place where they will be loved and treated like HUMAN BEINGS not broken machines. Shock after shock after shock does nothing but terrify the student. This treatment is not helping them and the only reason that the small fraction of students that are being "helped" are behaving is because they are TERRIFIED out of their minds of the next shock. This man is a monster. This facility must be shut down.
Posted by: Jacob Parsons on August 24, 2007 9:52:21 AM
Just read with horror this article and related comments after sent word of this from relative with Flordia's Agency for Person's With Disabilities. Am appalled at what I have read. Why are the Regulatory Agnecies of MA not acting upon this in-humane treatment of patients? Where is the Department of Justice? DOJ shut down a MR-DD State operated facility in Indiana after reports and findings of patient mis-treatment. The Indiana findings were in no way as severe or restrictive as those noted in the report on JRC. As many commented, prisons do not treat even the worst criminals in this manner. Having worked throughout my career with Developmentally Disabled I understand how difficult it can be to treat our most challenging citizens, BUT this is unacceptable to me. Health care professionals are all taught Cardinal Rule #1: First DO NO HARM to the patient. Obviously, someone at JRC has forgotten that.
Posted by: C.Moon RN,C, MSN,MHA,QMRP on August 25, 2007 10:57:24 AM
Re. the evolution of JRC from Skinner: Something about that time, I'm not sure what it was, created a hotbed for these types of places. There were a lot of new ideas floating around about the human psyche, and people tried mucking around with those ideas, for whatever reasons... perhaps some of them were even good-intentioned. I guess some people thought they could apply these ideas to solving some of the "problems of the day," e.g., straightening up the "errant and wayward youth" and turning them into productive citizens. It would seem that the idea that one's teenage years are, by definition, turbulent times fraught with stress and filled with a modicum of experimentation, had not yet been accepted as not necessarily a bad thing. Apparently it still isn't. ...Matthew Israel appears to have escaped close scrutiny of his methods and ideology since he focused on a small subset of youth, namely, self-abusing and mentally disturbed individuals whose parents felt they had no other alternative. His target clientele in the early days weren't exactly able to speak for themselves. Now that the Judge Rotenberg Center has started to target more mainstream malcontents, be it for reasons of greed or myopia, we are starting to hear stories of what life is really like there. May the sunlight of this current exposure prove to be the requisite disinfectant needed to put these atavistic barbaric cruelties to rest.
Posted by: Ursus on August 25, 2007 12:14:02 PM
you folks only see Matthew Israel's school you don't see that his methods have been used in public schools. in the 70's and 80's special ed bd classes used many of his methods. now some of us get to try and live with the abuses. personally i would love to see Dr. Matthew Israel subject to his own work.
Posted by: ernie on August 25, 2007 6:27:35 PM
Mr. Matthew Israel.... good you are reading this.
Posted by: ernie on August 25, 2007 6:35:13 PM
Personal feelings and emotions have no place in the life of an individual who is mentally or physically impaired. The facts are as follows: Research has demonstrated that positive behavior supports and medication management are only sufficiently effective in some individuals with life-threatening behaviors. The children placed at the Judge Rotenberg Center have all been through an impartial court hearing presided over by a judge, have been represented by a lawyer and the parent or legal guardian has consented to the proceeding. I received the 2000 New York Medical College Award of Academic Excellence for my research in this area. I have posted elsewhere with respect to my identical twin brothers who have compulsive life threatening behaviors unresponsive to medications and positive behavioral interventions only.
Posted by: Ilana Slaff, M.D. on August 25, 2007 6:58:39 PM
I sympathize with the parents of these children. Those of you who scream, "This is child abuse!" don't have a clue. I agree with Dr. Slaff. If you're so appaled by this treatment, take one of the patients into your home for a month. Walk a mile in the parent's shoes, then come back to this forum and report your feelings. It's different when they hit your wife in the face, sexually abuse YOUR children, and attempt to set your house on fire. Dealing with that will change your pov.
Posted by: Matt on August 26, 2007 3:27:23 AM
Mr. Matthew Israel.... good you are reading this.
Posted by: ernie on August 26, 2007 8:55:40 AM
Mr. Matthew Israel.... good you are reading this.
Posted by: ernie on August 26, 2007 8:55:42 AM
I read with dismay the article written by Jennifer Gonnerman regarding the disciplinary methods employed by the Judge Rotenber Center, commonly known as JRC. I found her article to be unbalanced and rather a knee-jerk reaction to a very complex process. Her article was also written out of context. It contains emotional rather than factual solutions. I have a first-hand working knowledge of JRC because I deal with JRC almost on a daily basis and have done so for the past 4 years. I am a court-appointed attorney who is not employeed by JRC or the Trial Court system. I am completely unbiased and work only for myslef and in the best interests of the students that I represent. I found her story to be completely lopsided. Very little attention was paid to the positive aspects of the program but rather emphasized the negative aspects of the program. Following suit were the bloggers who probably never even visited JRC or had any working knowledge of its methods. If the aricle had been writted on a more positive note, bloggers would have in turn responded in a more positive fashion. My role is to assure that the behavioral treatment plans are appropriate to meet my students/client's needs. If there is a provision which is overly punitive than that provision is addressed and the applicable punishment is removed from the plan. If no middle grounds are met then several independent doctors are obtained and the independent doctors will also evaluate the treatment plan. The student also has some input into their treatment plan and allowed to make reasonable requests. Therefore, students are given the GED's after much forethought and planning has been established. The treatment plan must then be approved by Judges of the Probate Court system. I have yet to hear a Judge condemn the program in it's entirety. That is because the Judges have witnessed such overwhelming improvemnets and turnarounds that it almost boggles the mind. When I first meet some of my students they had to be kept apart from any human contact because of their agressive and dangerous nature. Some must be protected with staff personel around the clock. They are not able to matriculate into a traditional classroom setting. Some of these students have stabbed others or themselves with sharp insturments, some have set fires and I had one student who once head-butted a pregnant teacher. The list goes on and on. I might ask is this any way to exist? These students would never be able to socialize or be educated within the traditonal system. I have seen students who were restrained on a full time basis but whom after the GEDS were applied are now able to lead full and productive lives, are educated, have jobs and families. Without JRC these students would either be jailed for the rest of their lives with litte to no education or given a cocktail of the most potent drugs known to society. With the medications they usually suffer from the effects such as trembling, drooling, sedation, low white blood counts which is ofter fatal and many other side effects including diabetes and heart failure. I admire the fact that JRC will accept students who no other placement will accept. Without the JRC program where would these children go? Even without the use of the GEDs this is a highly structural and organized program that is dedicated to the turning around of some of the country's most worst behaved students. As the student's behavior is improved the Geds start being removed. Remeber, it is the decision of the higher functioning student whether they get an application or not. To behave appropriately means no applications. The decisons is theirs. In conclusion, Ms. Gonnerman reports other less structured disciplinary programs that are allegedly successful but I see no examples, data or articles documenting other behavioral approaches. She also states that students would rather be in jail than at JRC. This statement raises some red flags for me. In jail or DYS there is little education, the children don't have much of anything to do and there is little structure. I find that the more unstructured a setting is the more the children like it even though it is not in their best interest. I think Ms. Gonnerman should revisit her story and write a more balanced and positive viewpoint of this school. She should keep in mind that JRC has rehabilitated vast numbers of aggressive and violent children. Also, all the planning and different stages of the treatment plan can be viewed on the JRC website.
Posted by: Elaine Gerber on August 26, 2007 9:47:16 AM
really Dr.Ilana Slaff, M.D. what happens with the high function victims: when we grow up and move into the world? you folks don't know. you don't track us all. if you did we would see you and then you would have to deal with us and pray your key words worked. they might just slow us down for a moment as we process our fear of punishment: maybe we calm and just walk away or maybe our suppressed hate and anger burns out the conditioning and we attack you. pretty scary to think about; some of us are higher function and not even we know what will make us blow....................................................... as for you Matt. I have lived with those dangerous self destructive children. those parents and doctors think they only hurt them because they love them; same excuse rapists and abusers use all the time. I would suggest you get your face flicked a few thousand times while you are helpless and don't know the complex rule system that changes with every person you interact with; see how it feels.
Posted by: ernie on August 26, 2007 10:09:44 AM