Don’t be fooled by JRC messaging
By GuestDear Editor:
Last week I opened my Canton Citizen only to be greeted by yet another large, colorful ad for the Judge Rotenberg Center. This time the ad included the statement, “Our reward program is beyond compare.” What they neglect to add is that their punishment program is also beyond compare.
In addition to being a poor neighbor, as cited by Paul Phalan in his recent letter to the editor in this paper, the Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC) is the only facility in the United States to use skin shocks as “treatment” for children and adults with disabilities and complex support needs. No other group of people in our country can be subjected to these shocks, which violate the UN Convention Against Torture. And yet today, these skin shocks continue to be used right here in Canton and in homes run by the JRC in southeastern Massachusetts.
The devices used to deliver the shocks were banned in 2020 by the FDA; however, a subsequent legal ruling determined that the FDA did not have the authority to determine what devices a practitioner should prescribe or administer. However, language in the 2023 omnibus appropriations bill passed by Congress in December 2022 now gives the FDA the authority to ban these devices. Let’s hope the FDA acts, and soon.
No one deserves to be subject to electric shock to control their behavior. Do not be fooled by the colorful ads with smiling children and adults. Their punishment program is beyond compare.
Cindy Thomas
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=116088
Posted by Guest
on Jul 14 2023. Filed under From One Citizen to Another, Opinion.
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