Education Law

Judge Rotenberg School Still Using Shock Treatment

By Charles Fox

One of the hardest decisions that parents make is to seek residential placement, sometimes at a great distance from home. I regularly have clients who require residential schooling; often it is a matter of life and death. Knowing which school is the most appropriate is not easy to determine. Well,  the Judge Rotenberg Center in Massachusetts is one school that parents can pass over in their consideration of residential placements. This school regularly uses electric shock treatment for behavioral modification. Apparently, recently in response to a prank caller they applied numerous shocks to 2 students. I have many students on my case load with severe behaviors I do not believe nor am I aware of credible literature which supports the effectiveness of shocks to modify behavior

Full post as published by Special Education Law Blog on June 25, 2008 (boomark / email).