Believe it or not, electrical stimulations or shock devices are still being used among special needs kids. The Judge Rotenberg Center, a residential facility in Massachusetts, is widely known to use these shock devices to control or regulate the behavior of their special needs patients.
There have been numerous calls for the facility to end the practice, citing that it is akin to torture and human rights violation. In May, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed a ruling that shock devices should already be banned, via Regulations.Gov. However, the public is still awaiting the results of this proposal.
Disability Scoop reports that six U.S. senators have written FDA Commissioner Robert Califf with regards the proposal. The senators call the practice done by Judge Rotenberg Center staff as "outrageous." Thus, they are asking for an immediate end to using shock devices to control special needs patients.
A petition lodged on Change.Org also calls on the ban of these devices. A former staff at the center alleged that the administration has reasoned out that the shock devices have been FDA-approved and were deemed a safe means for treatment and behavior control.
Based on what the petitioner has witnessed, however, the special needs patients only end up being physically and emotionally hurt and traumatized. They also incur "bloodied scabby injuries" from the electric stimulations.
Among the shock devices used against special needs patients at this center is the Graduated Electronic Decelerator (GED), which is attached to the head. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights reports that this shock device has multiple stimulations, but it is of lesser voltage than the Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) device. The ECT is apparently used in mental health facilities.
Judge Rotenberg Center is a science and technology-based residential facility for people with special needs. It has both children and adult patients, who are subjected to the same rules and procedures. It has been in operation since the '70s.
