Author Topic: Szalavitz: Shocks From The System  (Read 4118 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Deborah

  • Posts: 5383
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile
Szalavitz: Shocks From The System
« on: January 07, 2007, 10:22:11 PM »
Op-Ed Contributor
Shocks From the System
By MAIA SZALAVITZ
New York, January 7, 2007

ALTHOUGH the New York State Department of Education bans corporal
punishment, each year it uses taxpayer money to send dozens of
children with emotional or learning disabilities to schools that use
physically and mentally abusive forms of behavior modification. These
include electric shocks, seclusion and sleep and food deprivation.
Because these punishments are euphemized as "aversive therapy," they
have until recently stayed under the department's radar.

But this summer, the New York State Board of Regents decided to
regulate the use of such measures. Thankfully, the proposed new rules,
which the Regents are scheduled to enact this week, ban aversive
treatment after 2009. Unfortunately, however, for this school year and
the two that follow, young New Yorkers who receive a "child specific
exemption" will still be subject to some of these therapies, and those
who get this treatment now could continue to receive it after 2009.

This is a mistake. Aversive therapy for children should be banned
immediately here in New York and nationwide. Though corporal
punishment can sometimes produce compliance among unruly children,
history shows that regulators cannot prevent it from being applied
dangerously and inappropriately.

The new regulation was spurred by a $10 million lawsuit filed by a
Long Island mother last spring. Her teenage son, who has learning
disabilities, had been placed by the state in the Judge Rotenberg
Center, a private boarding school for special-education students in
Massachusetts that uses electric shocks delivered directly to the skin
to change behavior. After leaving the center, the boy was hospitalized
for post-traumatic stress disorder, which the lawsuit alleges resulted
from his treatment at the school.

In May, New York investigators made an unannounced visit to Rotenberg,
where about 150 New Yorkers are enrolled. There, they found that
shocks were being administered for such minor infractions as "nagging"
or "failing to maintain a neat appearance." A state survey discovered
that nine schools used by the state for troubled children also use
aversive therapy.

Proponents of these institutions claim that they have no alternative.
Testimonials describe Rotenberg as "life-saving." In one instance,
family members said it ended the daily self-destructive behavior of a
child who once needed brain surgery after deliberately slamming his
skull into a sharp object; in others, parents say it stopped
head-banging so severe that it had caused near-blindness.

If aversive therapies were limited to extreme cases and backed by
strong evidence, they might make sense. But no controlled research
supports aversive therapy over positive alternatives like medical and
reward-based treatments. What's more, it's far from given that these
schools are staffed by highly trained professionals. For instance,
Rotenberg was fined late last year by the state of Massachusetts for
falsely reporting some staff qualifications.

At a cost of more than $200,000 a year per student, it arguably makes
more sense for the state to pay for live-in aides to treat children
with gentler and proven alternatives at home.

More to the point, New York faces a tremendous challenge in policing
these schools, particularly those that are out of state. Take the Elan
School in Poland, Maine, which New York uses as an emergency placement
for emotionally and learning-disabled students and which has applied
to the state for permission to use aversive therapy.

At Elan, which was founded by a former heroin addict and a
psychiatrist in 1970, counseling involves attack therapy "encounter
groups" led by students. Three former students who attended Elan in
the last five years told me that participants physically discipline
one another and are often made to stay up all night.

Elan is probably best known for allegedly having produced a murder
confession from Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel in the late 70s after he
was subjected to a "therapy" called the ring, in which the victim is
given boxing gloves, hemmed in by a circle of students and pounded by
fresh opponents until he or she submits.

Elan officials told Maine regulators that it stopped using "the ring"
in 2000, but Daniel Grossman, who attended Elan from 1999 to 2002,
said he witnessed it after that time. Through its lawyer, Elan said
that any charges of abuse from former students are "not accurate." A
state investigation by Maine in 2002 cleared the school. New York
officials recently conducted an unannounced inspection, but the
results are not yet public.

Nonetheless, the fact that any school serving disturbed children would
consider electric shocks, beatings, isolation, restraints and food
deprivation as appropriate punishments illustrates the inherent danger
in allowing aversive tactics. Once permitted, they tend to expand from
emergency measures to everyday abuse.

According to the New York Department of Education, the state will be
able to educate troubled children by 2009 with nonaversive measures.
But since proven alternatives exist, there's no reason to risk another
minute - let alone two years - of abuse.

Maia Szalavitz, the author of "Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen
Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids," is a senior fellow at Stats, a
media watchdog group.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
gt;>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Hidden Lake Academy, after operating 12 years unlicensed will now be monitored by the state. Access information on the Federal Class Action lawsuit against HLA here: http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t=17700

Offline Anonymous

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 164653
  • Karma: +3/-4
    • View Profile
Szalavitz: Shocks From The System
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2007, 11:25:06 PM »
Why won't this place just die already?!
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline psy

  • Administrator
  • Newbie
  • *****
  • Posts: 5606
  • Karma: +2/-0
    • View Profile
    • http://homepage.mac.com/psyborgue/
Szalavitz: Shocks From The System
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2007, 12:11:46 AM »
Quote from: ""TS Waygookin""
Lovely.... so the state of new york will still let them fry kids for having an untucked shirt till 2009? Even let them zap kids after 2009 if they ask reallly realllllly nicely?

Ever hear that Dada track, "The spirit of 2009"?

Lyrics:
Quote from: ""Dada - The Spirit of 2009""
I'm a teenager
Born in nineteen-hundred ninety-five
And I'll see you here later
Can't wait to meet you
If you're still alive

I hope you're ready
'Cause it ain't cute
Get your gun hand steady
Grab your Bible and shoot

It's the spirit of 2009
We're still waiting for the water
To change into wine
There's nothing left 'cause it's all right
We're gonna burn some books tonight
It's the spirit of 2009, 2009

I'm a teenager
I ain't got no teachers
They gave 'em forty acres and a mule
But I got big brother preachers
Now I see things I never saw in school

They put a wig on the eagle
They took the sex off your screen
Thank God the pill's illegal
I'll be a dad at fourteen

It's the spirit of 2009
We're still waiting for the water
To change into wine
It's the spirit of 2009
Forget the left 'cause it's all right
The population is out of sight
It's the spirit of 2009, 2009 (hoo)

I used to play bass in a solid mass band
Smoke jelly and hang out in my pod
But this summer I'm going to astro camp
Learn a trade that gets me closer to God, God

(solo)

I'm a teenager
I'm a teenager

It's the spirit of 2009
We're still waiting for the water
To change into wine
There's nothing left 'cause it's all right
We're gonna burn some books tonight
It's the spirit of 2009
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
Benchmark Young Adult School - bad place [archive.org link]
Sue Scheff Truth - Blog on Sue Scheff
"Our services are free; we do not make a profit. Parents of troubled teens ourselves, PURE strives to create a safe haven of truth and reality." - Sue Scheff - August 13th, 2007 (fukkin surreal)

Offline Anonymous

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 164653
  • Karma: +3/-4
    • View Profile
Szalavitz: Shocks From The System
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2007, 12:18:40 AM »
Psy, you've been looking a little guilty lately. What's on your mind?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Nihilanthic

  • Posts: 3931
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile
Szalavitz: Shocks From The System
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2007, 04:43:04 AM »
What still burns me intensely is how apathetic everyone is to all of this!

The sheer ignorance and lack of giving even the slightest of a damn is going to ruin us! Nobody cares about anything but what the talking heads say to care about.. we INVENT things like "attacks on marriage by homosexuals" when our education system, how we treat our kids, and other 'big' things like our entire energy infrastructure are completely ignored!

WTF is wrong with everyone?  :flame:

And, that brings me to another Query: How do you make them care?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
DannyB on the internet:I CALLED A LAWYER TODAY TO SEE IF I COULD SUE YOUR ASSES FOR DOING THIS BUT THAT WAS NOT POSSIBLE.

CCMGirl on program restraints: "DON\'T TAZ ME BRO!!!!!"

TheWho on program survivors: "From where I sit I see all the anit-program[sic] people doing all the complaining and crying."

Offline try another castle

  • Registered Users
  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 2693
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile
Szalavitz: Shocks From The System
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2007, 05:16:49 AM »
Quote
And, that brings me to another Query: How do you make them care?


Tell them the staff are abusing children while burning the flag.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Nihilanthic

  • Posts: 3931
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile
Szalavitz: Shocks From The System
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2007, 05:17:55 AM »
:o

Ok, time to do it 60s style, huh...

Well, its true. The only way to get shit noticed is sensationalism!
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
DannyB on the internet:I CALLED A LAWYER TODAY TO SEE IF I COULD SUE YOUR ASSES FOR DOING THIS BUT THAT WAS NOT POSSIBLE.

CCMGirl on program restraints: "DON\'T TAZ ME BRO!!!!!"

TheWho on program survivors: "From where I sit I see all the anit-program[sic] people doing all the complaining and crying."

Offline psy

  • Administrator
  • Newbie
  • *****
  • Posts: 5606
  • Karma: +2/-0
    • View Profile
    • http://homepage.mac.com/psyborgue/
Szalavitz: Shocks From The System
« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2007, 07:47:58 AM »
Quote from: ""Guest""
Psy, you've been looking a little guilty lately. What's on your mind?
Looking guilty?  About what?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
Benchmark Young Adult School - bad place [archive.org link]
Sue Scheff Truth - Blog on Sue Scheff
"Our services are free; we do not make a profit. Parents of troubled teens ourselves, PURE strives to create a safe haven of truth and reality." - Sue Scheff - August 13th, 2007 (fukkin surreal)

Offline ZenAgent

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 1720
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile
    • http://www.freepowerboards.com/strugglingppl/index.php
Szalavitz: Shocks From The System
« Reply #8 on: January 08, 2007, 06:38:28 PM »
Quote from: ""psy""
Quote from: ""Guest""
Psy, you've been looking a little guilty lately. What's on your mind?
Looking guilty?  About what?


For liking Dada.  No, only joking.  "Puzzle" is one of the great forgottens...
"I just flipped off President George...I'm going to Dizznee Land,"
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
\"Allah does not love the public utterance of hurtful speech, unless it be by one to whom injustice has been done; and Allah is Hearing, Knowing\" - The Qur\'an

_______________________________________________
A PV counselor\'s description of his job:

\"I\'m there to handle kids that are psychotic, suicidal, homicidal, or have commited felonies. Oh yeah, I am also there to take them down when they are rowdy so the nurse can give them the booty juice.\"

Offline Deborah

  • Posts: 5383
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile
Szalavitz: Shocks From The System
« Reply #9 on: January 11, 2007, 02:20:35 PM »
Looks as if NY programs will have to curtail their torture methods, intentional infliction of pain.
Does Ivy Ridge and the like qualify as "approved private schools" or "registered non-public secondary" school?
Other states should adopt similar Regulation.

Excerpt from:
New York State Psychological Association Task Force on Aversive Controls with Children
AMENDMENT TO THE REGULATIONS OF THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION
August 21, 2006
Note to Regents: material to be deleted is double strikethrough; material to be inserted is in boldface.
Pursuant to Education Law sections 207, 210, 305, 4401, 4402, 4403, and 4410 1. Section 19.5 of the Rules of the Board of Regents is amended, effective June 23, 2006, as follows:

ยง 19.5 Prohibition of corporal punishment and certain behavioral interventions.
(a) Prohibition of corporal punishment.
(1) No teacher, administrator, officer, employee or agent of a school district in this State, [or of] a board of cooperative educational services (BOCES), a charter school, State-operated or State-supported school, an approved preschool program, an approved private school, an approved out-of-State day or residential school, or a registered nonpublic nursery, kindergarten, elementary or secondary school in this State, shall use corporal punishment against a pupil.

[(b)] (2) As used in this section, corporal punishment means any act of physical force upon a pupil for the purpose of punishing that pupil, except as otherwise provided in [subdivision (c)] paragraph 3 of this [section] subdivision. [(c)]
(3) In situations in which alternative procedures and methods not involving the use of physical force cannot reasonably be employed, nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prohibit the use of reasonable physical force for the following purposes:
[(1)] (i) to protect oneself from physical injury;
[(2)] (ii) to protect another pupil or teacher or any person from physical injury;
To be striken:
[strike][(3)] (iii) to protect the property of the school, school district or others; or [(4)] (iv) to restrain or remove a pupil whose behavior is interfering with the orderly exercise and performance of school or school district functions, powers and duties, if that pupil has refused to comply with a request to refrain from further disruptive acts. [/strike]

(b) Prohibition of the use of aversive behavioral interventions.
(1) No public school, BOCES, charter school, approved preschool program, approved private school, State-operated or State-supported school in this State, approved out-of-State day or residential school, or registered nonpublic nursery, kindergarten, elementary or secondary school in this State shall employ the use of aversive behavioral interventions to reduce or eliminate maladaptive behaviors, except as provided pursuant to section 200.22(e) and (f) of this Title.
(2) As used in this section, aversive behavioral intervention means:
(i) application of noxious, painful, intrusive stimuli or activities intended to induce pain such as electric skin shock, ice applications, hitting, slapping, pinching, kicking, hurling, strangling, shoving, deep muscle squeezes or other similar stimuli;
(ii) any form of noxious, painful or intrusive spray, inhalant or tastes;
(iii) withholding sleep, shelter, bedding, bathroom facilities or clothing;
(iv) contingent food programs that include withholding meals or limiting essential nutrition or hydration or intentionally altering staple food or drink in order to make it distasteful;
(v) movement limitation used as a punishment, including but not limited to helmets and mechanical restraint devices;
(vi) the placement of a child unsupervised or unobserved in a room from which the student cannot exit without assistance; or NYSPA: Suggested
(vii) other stimuli or actions similar to the interventions described in subparagraphs (i) through (vi) of this paragraph. The term does not include such interventions as voice control, limited to loud, firm commands; time-limited ignoring of a specific behavior; token fines as part of a token economy system; brief physical prompts to interrupt or prevent a specific behavior; interventions medically necessary for the treatment or protection of the student; or other similar interventions.

2. Paragraphs (lll) and (mmm) are added to section 200.1 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education, effective June 23, 2006, as follows:
(lll) Aversive behavioral intervention means application of noxious, painful, intrusive stimuli or activities intended to induce pain such as electric skin shock, ice applications, hitting, slapping, pinching, kicking, hurling, strangling, shoving, deep muscle squeezes or other similar stimuli; any form of noxious, painful or intrusive spray, inhalant or tastes; withholding sleep, shelter, bedding, bathroom facilities or clothing; contingent food programs that include withholding meals or limiting essential nutrition or hydration or intentionally altering staple food or drink in order to make it distasteful; movement limitation used as a punishment, including but not limited to helmets and mechanical restraint devices; the placement of a child unsupervised or unobserved in a room from which the student cannot exit without assistance; or other similar stimuli or actions. The term does not include such interventions as voice control, limited to loud, firm commands; time-limited ignoring of a specific behavior; token fines as part of a token economy system; brief physical prompts to interrupt or prevent a specific behavior; interventions medically necessary for the treatment or protection of the student; or other similar interventions.
(mmm) Behavioral intervention plan means a plan that is based on the results of a functional behavioral assessment and, at a minimum, includes a description of the problem behavior, global and specific hypotheses as to why the problem behavior occurs and intervention strategies to address the behavior.

3. Subparagraph (i) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (d) of section 200.4 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education is amended, effective June 23, 2006, as follows:
(i) in the case of a student whose behavior impedes his or her learning or that of others, consider strategies, including positive behavioral interventions, and supports and other strategies to address that behavior that are consistent with the requirements in section 200.22 of this Part; 4. Subparagraph (i) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of section 200.7 of the Regulations of the Commissioner is amended, effective June 23, 2006, as follows:
(i) Conditional approval for private schools shall be limited to a period of one school year, or the period of time required to complete approval, and will be based on: (a) . . . (b) . . . (c) . . . (d) for schools operating as corporate entities, evidence of the following: (1) . . . (2) . . . (3) for out-of-state schools, a license or charter from the state education agency of the state in which the school is located; [and] (e) at least one onsite program review visit by program or fiscal[fiscal to be striken] staff of the Education Department; and (f) submission for approval of the school?s procedures regarding behavioral interventions, including, if applicable, procedures for the use of aversive behavioral interventions.

5. Subparagraph (iv) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of section 200.7 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education is amended, effective June 23, 2006, as follows:
(iv) Schools may be removed from the approved list five business days after written notice by the commissioner indicating that there is a clear and present danger to the health or safety of students attending the school, and listing the dangerous conditions at the school, including, but not limited to, evidence that an approved private school is using aversive behavioral interventions to reduce or eliminate maladaptive behaviors of students without a child-specific exception provided pursuant to section 200.22(e) of this Part or that an approved private school is using aversive behavioral interventions in a manner inconsistent with the standards as established in section 200.22 (f) of this Part. 6.
Paragraph (8) is added to subdivision (b) of section 200.7 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education, effective June 23, 2006, as follows:
(8) Except as provided in subdivision (e) of section 200.22 of this Part, an approved private school, a State-operated school, or a State-supported school is prohibited from using corporal punishment and aversive behavioral interventions to reduce or eliminate maladaptive behaviors of students.
7. Paragraph (6) is added to subdivision (c) of section 200.7 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education, effective June 23, 2006, as follows:
(6) Policies and procedures relating to the use of aversive behavioral interventions. Not later than August 15, 2006, a private school that proposes to use or to continue to use aversive behavioral interventions in its program shall submit its written policies and procedures on behavioral interventions to the Department with certification that the school?s policies, procedures and practices are demonstrably in compliance with the standards established in section 200.22(f) of this Part. Any school that fails to meet this requirement shall be immediately closed to new admissions of New York students and shall be prohibited from using aversive behavioral interventions with any New York State student placed in such program. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in termination of private school approval pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of this section.
Much, much more at:
http://www.nyspa.org/associations/3096/ ... s_8221.pdf
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
gt;>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Hidden Lake Academy, after operating 12 years unlicensed will now be monitored by the state. Access information on the Federal Class Action lawsuit against HLA here: http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t=17700

Offline Deborah

  • Posts: 5383
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile
Szalavitz: Shocks From The System
« Reply #10 on: January 11, 2007, 02:25:00 PM »
The Task Force considered a variety of materials and sources of information in its deliberations including published research, reports by federal agencies and commissions, position statements by other mental health organizations on the use of restraint or seclusion, reports by disability support organizations and advocacy groups, the findings of the American Psychological Association Task Force on Zero Tolerance Policies, media reports relating to restraint and seclusion issues, and reports concerning discrimination related to minority status and disability status both nationwide and specifically in NYS.
http://www.nyspa.org:80/
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
gt;>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Hidden Lake Academy, after operating 12 years unlicensed will now be monitored by the state. Access information on the Federal Class Action lawsuit against HLA here: http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t=17700

Offline Anonymous

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 164653
  • Karma: +3/-4
    • View Profile
Szalavitz: Shocks From The System
« Reply #11 on: January 11, 2007, 06:47:43 PM »
Abuse History No Bar to For-Profit Teen Biz: Arrest Probably Won't End It, Either

Maia Szalavitz
01.11.2007

Admitting to pepper-spraying a teenager "more than two times a day" as a means of discipline might be seen by some as a bar to opening and operating a school for troubled children. Conceding, on videotape that "from somebody on the outside looking in, I would say it would be abusive," seems even less likely to make you a winner in this area.

And in fact, when Randall Hinton, who made those admissions in a French documentary, sought to buy a military school in Iowa and use it as a facility for "troubled teens," these and other accounts of abuse prompted the school's owners to reject his plan.

That didn't stop Hinton and his associates from the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASP or WWASPS) from trying again in Colorado-- where they founded the Royal Gorge Academy in Canon City in 2006 (also known as Royal Peak Academy).

Now Hinton has been arrested on charges of "false imprisonment," with claims that he made a teenage girl lie on the floor for six hours, injured her wrists and denied her medical attention. According to a local television station, a Royal Gorge employee told police that Hinton also slammed a boy's face into the floor until he bled.

Of course, at his previous place of employment, the WWASP-linked facility Tranquility Bay in Jamaica, six hours of lying on the floor is a minor sanction. The owner of that school claimed that the "record" time his program made a child lie on the floor during waking hours was 18 months in an interview with the British paper, The Observer.

Tranquility Bay is also notorious for assaults by staff on students-- one filed a lawsuit after a restraint resulted in a broken jaw. In that case as well, medical attention was withheld from the victim. The program is still open.

A man involved in the operation of a WWASP-affiliated Mexican program that sent teens to a off-campus site that kept them in outdoor dog cages now operates a WWASP-linked facility in upstate New York, known as Academy at Ivy Ridge.

Recently, an Ivy Ridge employee was fired for forcing two teenage girls into oral sex and New York state made the same facility to return some $2 million to parents because it had falsely claimed to be an accredited state high school. In late 2006, the state denied its application to be accredited and noted health and safety problems with training, students disciplining other students, restraint and denial of bathroom access.

The man who runs WWASP's MidWest Academy, formerly headed their program in Samoa. That one was shut down following a U.S. State Department-led investigation which found "credible allegations of physical abuse" including "beatings, isolation, food and water deprivation, choke-holds, kicking, punching, bondage, spraying with chemical agents, forced medication, [and] verbal abuse." Mexico has shuttered three WWASP-linked programs, Costa Rica one and the Czech Republic, another.

But here in the U.S., it's business as usual in upstate New York, South Carolina, Iowa, and Utah-- and Americans can still send their kids to Jamaica's Tranquility Bay. Why is this organization and its employees allowed to operate facilities for vulnerable and disturbed children in 21st century America-- and when will the federal government finally step in to stop them, once and for all?

article source
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Deborah

  • Posts: 5383
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile
Szalavitz: Shocks From The System
« Reply #12 on: February 18, 2007, 12:59:23 AM »
Tuesday Night, 20 Feb- Primetime on ABC

Topics include genetic sexual attraction (falling in love with someone with DNA similarities), and a Massachusetts school where the treatment for autistic children includes electric shocks for inappropriate behavior. John Quinones and Cynthia McFadden report.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
gt;>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Hidden Lake Academy, after operating 12 years unlicensed will now be monitored by the state. Access information on the Federal Class Action lawsuit against HLA here: http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t=17700

Offline Infinity

  • Posts: 32
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile
    • http://chaoticidealism.livejournal.com/
Szalavitz: Shocks From The System
« Reply #13 on: February 18, 2007, 05:06:49 AM »
They've been using aversives on autistics for ages, and aren't likely to stop even if they close the programs down... Autism causes problems with social skills and communication and that makes us very vulnerable. Auties have been killed... suffocated in restraints, poisoned with drugs, beaten to death... in institutions everywhere. Not to mention the abuse they get from parents and classmates.

Yeah, that happens in "civilized" countries like the USA. Apparently, if you're a cute kid with Down's, or if you use a wheelchair, you're OK; but if you're autistic, you must obviously be planning to murder people and/or be such a burden to your family that it would be kinder to kill you.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
size=9]It doesn\'t stop after high school...
The Student Voice[/size]

Offline Ganja

  • Posts: 606
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile
Szalavitz: Shocks From The System
« Reply #14 on: February 18, 2007, 09:23:41 AM »
Quote from: ""Infinity""
They've been using aversives on autistics for ages, and aren't likely to stop even if they close the programs down... Autism causes problems with social skills and communication and that makes us very vulnerable. Auties have been killed... suffocated in restraints, poisoned with drugs, beaten to death... in institutions everywhere. Not to mention the abuse they get from parents and classmates.

Yeah, that happens in "civilized" countries like the USA. Apparently, if you're a cute kid with Down's, or if you use a wheelchair, you're OK; but if you're autistic, you must obviously be planning to murder people and/or be such a burden to your family that it would be kinder to kill you.

WOW.  :o
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »