Child electrocuted for not removing jacket at school (BF, parents, children)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Who is attacking you? And again, this is not a regular school, this is a center for intractable behavior....and I don't think you will find any/many who condone this type of behavior modification.
I honestly am so surprised that I am being *attacked* for being upset about this. Whether she knew or not is not my issue. Its that in this day and age where you cant even spank your child the govt allows for "schools" to offer starvation, chemical torture and electro-shock therapy to even exist. How is that ok?
No one is attacking you. This school, however, is a special case in that it takes cases no one else will handle *and* the fact that they use aversives is well advertised. It's a private facility and parents want to have their kids go there because they cannot stand the fact that otherwise the child will be either drugged into a stupor or restrained in a psychiatric facility.
I don't believe that these cases are totally intractable, but both their parents and the other schools they have been enrolled in do believe that.
Also both students and parents have given interviews about the device and their treatment here:
The fact that these 'parents' approve of this sort of thing should in no way makes it acceptable. If I did these things in my home I'd be in jail. Just because this is being done at their approval and at a 'school' is no excuse. And sadly, no, it is not banned. This school is open today and the state has yet to close it down or even show a willingness to.
These are not people with 'intractable' behaviors. They are people with disabilities who were never given a chance at treatments that work and don't involve torture. The state should step in, close this place, terminate the parent's rights and get these people, who are in many cases children, some help before all hope is lost. It's a sad day for a society when we allow an institution carry on like this and abuse the disabled because the so-called able people 'approve' of it.
I agree that this is not acceptable. I do think that the state should close them down. The thing is that NY state actually sends they cannot handle there and pays for them to go. I think that is absolutely nuts!
Aversive behavior modification. In our district we had a form that had to be faxed to a special office if you did any one of several "behavior modifications". It is a mild aversive correction, positive reinforcement only goes so far...
I was not an advocate of these methods....in my class....leave your coat on....no music though....you can put away your coat and listen to music. I never had problems....
Really? Of course people disagree with me. People dont generally disagree with me about shock treatment of children.
I'm working on a longer response with references, but I don't think anyone is saying using physical aversives such as shock with children (or anyone else) is a good thing. As I read the posts on the thread, people were pointing out that the Rotenburg Center is not typical, even for special needs residential facilities, and certainly not the norm for school in general. I can understand you being appalled by the case reported by the media and I believe most people, behaviorist or otherwise, would agree their methods should not be used in the way they are reported to be using them. The Rotenburg Center has a reputation for being very controversial, but it is important to note that they are by no means the norm. They have so many legal problems exactly because they operate outside the realm of accepted state of the art. The APA has issued statement after statement about the ethical use of behavioral interventions, to which the Rotenburg Center does not conform.
Additionally, there is a historical context for using physical aversives, which no matter how appalling we find them using the lens of today's standards of ethical treatment, exist in almost every branch of medicine and psychology. I am not defending the practice, by any stretch of the imagination, particularly because so many advances have been made in positive behavior support programs, which have been documented to help make more permanent positive behavioral changes in treatment resistant patients. However, knowing the history and context of where the use of aversives came from, I can understand though not agree with its use. I would fully support anyone who wants to agitate for change at the Rotenburg Center.
Last edited by eastwesteastagain; 04-16-2012 at 08:13 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.