Human rights activists, families and allies will rally in Boston on Saturday, June 2, 2012 to seek an immediate end to all ongoing state-funded torture of individuals with autism and related developmental disabilities, falsely disguised and defended as "treatment" at the long-infamous Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC) in Canton, Massachusetts.
Many of you shared passionate comments at a post by another diarist about JRC, here.
Whether you are among those already familiar with this travesty or not, please see this updated information and respond to the suggested ideas for further action listed below.
AC360 Interviews Senator Joyce, JRC called Barbaric, House of Horrors!
One of the best overviews of JRC yet! Yet it still keeps repeating the false idea that the students at JRC have behaviors much more severe than students elsewhere in the country and world that can only be helped by GEDs. But Anderson also reiterates from two nights ago that JRC has no peer review studies, and he has an expert in the field point out the barbaric and unnecessary practices. MA Senator Joyce points out that the ideas behind the GED shocks stem from work done in the 1930s on gay people to try to make them not gay. Unfortunately the video is clipped off before we can hear the rest of what Senator Brian Joyce has to say about his Amendment 548 that bans the aversives from MA that has just passed the MA Senate, and is now going to a MA Conference Committee. This is now the greatest opportunity to make change, thanks to Anderson Cooper's coverage, Fox News, and Cheryl Mc Collins.
Press "More" to see the video.
More at cnn.com
Published on May 28, 2012 by Greg4Students
Please immediately sign our petition by Cheryl Mc Collins and Gregory Miller on Change.Org to support Amendment #548 to ban torture of students with disabilities in Massachusetts. The MA House of Representatives led by House Speaker Robert DeLeo has continually stopped many efforts by the MA Senate to ban these torturous procedures for years.
VIEW VIDEO: Judge Rotenberg Center Torture Compilation
Sign and Share Petition #1:
Judge Rotenberg Educational Center: Please Stop Painful Electric Shocks on Your Students
The Governor of NY: Stop the Flow of Taxpayer Dollars to Support Torture
Last month, in a trial against the Judge Rotenberg Center, lawyers for Andre McCollins played graphic video of his torture by contingent electric shock for seven hours in the name of treatment. Andre is from New York, as are the majority of the Judge Rotenberg Center’s residents (as many as 60%), where their tuition (over $250,000 per year per student) is largely paid by public funding from the state or school district.
New York Senator Martin Golden and Assemblywoman Joan Millman have filed legislation (S6294A-2011 and A9084A-2011) that would revise the social services law to prohibit any form of public funding to any school or program that uses aversive interventions, specifically naming contingent electric shock.
In the past, New York banned the use of contingent electric shock on any student from New York, but there is still a large student population at the JRC from New York supported by public funding.
If these two bills pass, this piece of legislation could potentially result in the permanent closure of the JRC...(continues)
Sign and Share Petition #2:
The Governor of NY: Stop the Flow of Taxpayer Dollars to Support Torture
Excerpt from live chat hosted by Canton Patch, June 1, 2012:
Senator Brian A. Joyce:
Matthew Israel would present himself as a subject matter expert, refer to himself as Dr. Israel, and bring the most self-injurious students to public hearings at which he would tell the legislators if they passed a ban, these students would be in imminent danger to themselves and others. Legislators were often understanbly reluctant (sic) to wade into deciding a course of treatment where they often lacked expertise....
Later, we learned that many of these students who were testifying actually had GED devices attached to their bodies while giving testimony, and that they were fearful of saying the "wrong" thing and being shocked. There are several other reasons as well...
Comment From Ed Pilkington:
Thanks senator. That's all fascinating. The idea that students were wearing GED devices inside the senate chamber as they gave testimony - that is truly chilling.
...
Margaret Carroll-Bergman:
Why is aversive therapy allowed as a form of treatment for the disabled? Why do other states, for instance, New York, send students to Canton, when the same therapies are not allowed or available for whatever reason in the sending state?
Senator Brian A. Joyce:
I am quite certain that the extraordinary sums of money involved play a significant role in the JRC's efforts to stop our actions to protect these children. This facility that started as a summer day school for six children in Rhode Island in 1971, grew to an $18 million operation by 2000. By 2006, revenues exceeded $56 million. Every year from 2000 to 2010 (the most recent years for which we have pubic records), the highest expense for professional consulting services was for lawyers. Incredibly, the JRC spent about $16 million from 2000 to 2010 on legal services. Please tell me what other school for disabled children is spending millions and millions of dollars to fight regulation and oversight...
Find complete transcript here:
Live Chat Friday With Sen. Brian A. Joyce on the Judge Rotenberg Center
ADDITIONAL UPDATED INFO:
Occupy JRC
Occupy the Judge Rotenberg Center
Will you be a part of the change... Or will you condone torture?
!!Location Announced!!
RALLY MOVED TO BOSTON!!
MARCH TO FOLLOW IN CANTON!!
(2) Buses will be provided to help people get from Boston to Canton and back!!!!
When & Where: June 2nd Rally to take place @ the State House in Boston from 12pm to 230pm. March to take follow at 3:30pm on Turnpike Street at JRC in Canton (meeting point TBA)
For details including list of speakers, press release, most up-to-date event flyer and slogan ideas for signs and shirts, please click here.
Please follow the supplied links for further information and to respond to the suggested actions. I will return later to address comments and answer questions and concerns.
If anyone finds this material worthy of republishing to any DKos group, or elsewhere, please do so with my full blessing!
Thanks ~ WakeUpNeo
