In Parents Defend School’s Use of Shock Therapy the New York Times has revisited the Judge Rotenberg Education Center's use of aversive therapies, particularly the "shock" therapy, a mild two second bee sting style of shock, used in treating children with severe aggressive, self injurious even self mutilating behavior arising from autism and other disorders. Many scientists, therapists, politicians, bureaucrats and internet bloggers have condemned the Rotenberg center's use of aversives. But The New York Times goes beyond the Mother Jones breathless expose approach to these issues and presents the perspective of Susan Handon and other parents whose children have benefited from aversive therapy and who have even obtained a court order so they could continue to send their children to the Rotenberg Center for treatment.
Why are parents fighting to keep their children in a center which subjects them to a form of shock treatment? The NYT describes some of the reasons children are being treated at the JREC:
"Rotenberg is full of children who will run up and hit strangers in the face, or worse. Many have severe types of dysfunction, including self-mutilation, head banging, eye gouging and biting, that can result from autism or mental retardation. Parents tend to be referred there by desperate education officials, after other institutions have decided they cannot keep the child."
The Rotenberg's effective use of aversive therapy in addressing such serious issues poses a challenge to the world to provide an effective alternative treatment. The parents who send their children there can not be easily dismissed as Ms Handon has shown. Insults and political correctness will not address these issues.
If an effective aversive treatment is going to be taken out of the hands of the Judge Rotenberg Education Center what will replace it? Ineffective drugs, physical restraints? Purely positive interventions even if ineffective? If the political correctness crusaders prevail will they accept responsibility for children with autism and other disorders who then go on to engage in self mutilating behavior and aggression to others?
Why are parents fighting to keep their children in a center which subjects them to a form of shock treatment? The NYT describes some of the reasons children are being treated at the JREC:
"Rotenberg is full of children who will run up and hit strangers in the face, or worse. Many have severe types of dysfunction, including self-mutilation, head banging, eye gouging and biting, that can result from autism or mental retardation. Parents tend to be referred there by desperate education officials, after other institutions have decided they cannot keep the child."
The Rotenberg's effective use of aversive therapy in addressing such serious issues poses a challenge to the world to provide an effective alternative treatment. The parents who send their children there can not be easily dismissed as Ms Handon has shown. Insults and political correctness will not address these issues.
If an effective aversive treatment is going to be taken out of the hands of the Judge Rotenberg Education Center what will replace it? Ineffective drugs, physical restraints? Purely positive interventions even if ineffective? If the political correctness crusaders prevail will they accept responsibility for children with autism and other disorders who then go on to engage in self mutilating behavior and aggression to others?
autism
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