The Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC) in Canton, Massachusetts, has been called “[o]ne of the most controversial schools in the country” dues to its use of electric skin shock—aversive stimulation—”to treat children and adults with the most severe cases of autism and emotional and behavioral challenges” (from a February 2007 ABC News report). Some parents whose children have been at the JRC have defended the school on the grounds that the JRC’s aversion therapy has been the only way to stop their children’s violent and self-injurious behavior (see this December 2007 New York Times story).
I seriously question the JRC’s “treatment” methods. …read more