The Lines Between Behaviour Therapy, Abuse, And Torture Are Very Thin And Very Blurry
The Judge Rotenberg “Educational” Centre tortures Autistic and Disabled people
Trigger warning
This article discusses the use of electric shock on human beings. No graphic details are described, however the content may be upsetting for some — In fact, it should be upsetting for everyone.
JRC Sue Me Too
A place called The Judge Rotenberg “Educational” Centre is suing a non-profit Autistic-led organization called Neuroclastic for sharing accurate, truthful information about the JRC’s use of electric shock on disabled and Autistic people as a form of “behaviour therapy”.
JRC uses “electric skin shock” (in their own words) to “punish” disabled and Autistic people who don’t perform the correct behaviour, and call this “treatment”.
They torture disabled and Autistic children as young as 5 years old.
A brief and recent history
In 2010, Mental Disabilities Rights International urged the United Nations to step in and end the torture.
In 2020, the FDA banned the use of electric shock on human beings, a decision which JRC fought to overturn the following year (and won).
According to the JRC website, student tuition is funded by public school districts and various state agencies — they actually use the phrase “students are funded by”, as though the students are products rather than human beings, which seems to be how JRC views Autistic and disabled people.
JRC openly admits to using “electric skin shock” on people, they have even gone to court on multiple occasions in order to fight for the “right” to continue torturing people in this way.
If you need to shock someone with electricity in order for them to do what you’ve asked, then you clearly have zero skills. I worked for 10 years as a dog trainer (yes dogs, not human beings), worked with aggressive and challenging animals, and never once resorted to torturing them with shock.
I’ve worked in the social services and mental health fields for over twenty years, and never once have I hit or shocked a human being in order to gain compliance. I know there are hundreds of thousands of others who can safely say the same.
It’s unnecessary, it’s cruel and unusual, it’s torture. Full stop.
Activism activated
The fact that Neuroclastic happened to be targeted for stating a fact goes to show the weakness of JRC. Many other organizations and individuals have called their practices abuse and torture, but JRC chose a non-profit organization led by people with disabilities to try to intimidate into silence.
Big mistake, JRC.
They grossly underestimated the anger, rage, and persistence of the Disabled and Autistic communities. We’ve been oppressed, pushed around, mistreated, and marginalized our entire lives — do you really think a little threat is going to stop us?
Quite the opposite, in fact. This threat has motivated and spurred a new and even greater pushback.
We’ve been oppressed, pushed around, mistreated, and marginalized our entire lives — do you really think a little threat is going to stop us?
The Disabled and Autistic communities are banding together to speak out against JRC and other harmful practices. In this particular case, we are sharing our thoughts and criticisms of JRC’s torture of disabled and autistic people using the hashtag #JRCSueMeToo.
They can’t sue all of us, so let’s go.
A year late to the game
The offending article which apparently incited this cease and desist letter was published in August of 2021, which collected data from more than 900 ABA therapists regarding their professional opinion on the practices used at JRC.
Neuroclastic rightly calls the use of electric shock torture, but the irony is they were not the first — and certainly won’t be the last — to call this type of abuse a form of torture. Many Autistics, activists, and allies have been speaking out against behaviour therapies for decades.
Even more confounding is the fact that the United Nations definition of torture absolutely covers the use of electric shock as a method of changing a person’s behaviour.
“For the purposes of this Convention, the term “torture” means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as […] punishing him for an act he […] has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him […], or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity.” — United Nations
This is exactly what JRC, and all forms of ABA are doing — albeit JRC is using even more outrageous methods and publicly defends such abuses.
In case you need further convincing
The fact that ABA and other forms of behaviour modification are primarily inflicted upon disabled and neurodivergent people demonstrates clear discrimination against those with disabilities — it’s seen as acceptable to manipulate and harm us because we’re considered lesser than the non-disabled and neurotypical majority.
Physical, emotional, and psychological pain are inflicted upon disabled and neurodivergent people in order to force compliance. People are denied food and water, denied access to preferred items, have those preferred items removed, are yelled at, sometimes hit or slapped, sprayed with vinegar water, and even shocked with electricity.
Physical, emotional, and psychological pain are inflicted upon disabled and neurodivergent people in order to force compliance.
This happens to autistic and disabled people, primarily young children, every single day right in your own communities, including your children’s schools. ABA, behaviourism, and similar approaches are the prevailing way most school staff gain compliance from children on a daily basis.
The only difference is it’s typically done using less obviously abusive methods under the guise of “helping” the child fit in to neurotypical society.
If this is how the majority of society wants to treat people, and if that’s what it takes to “fit in”, then count me right the hell out.
© Jillian Enright, Neurodiversity MB
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