[blindkid] [Blindtlk] Fw: Mass. school electrocutes blind girl
Sally Thomas
seacknit at gmail.com
Mon May 21 22:35:55 UTC 2012
Peter,
While I am a big proponent of NOPBC, I think it is a bit naive to think
that our group could prevent the willful abuse of a child at a school for
the blind. The parents of NOPBC groups around the country work hard to
provide support and information to parents in their state but they
generally don't have access to the inner workings of state institutions.
Even when I was on the Education Advisory Committee at the Texas School
for the Blind and Visually Impaired I did not have privileged information
about the day to day actions at the school.
The reason I feel I need to respond to your statements is that I don't want
new parents to get the idea that NOPBC is some kind of quasi governmental
watchdog with paid staff people. We are parents. Many of us have full
time jobs "outside the home." We volunteer hundreds of hours to help blind
kids and their parents. The key word is volunteer. It is extremely
difficult to organize parents and kids with our limited resources of time
and money. Even though New Jersey has many strong parents leaders, it took
the courts to get a blind kid braille!
I admire your faith in our power as parents but I want it to be clear that
even when we are wearing our SuperParent capes, we can't do it all.
Sally Thomas
On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 10:41 PM, Peter Donahue <pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com>wrote:
> Good morning everyone,
>
> I'm originally from Massachusetts and am troubled to learn that if
> indeed this is true a place like this still exists. There was an outfit
> located in Jamaica Plane called the Boston Center for Blind Children which
> although they didn't use electric shock to punish students they used many
> other harsh methods such as holding someone in a take-down by lying them on
> their stomachs, pulling their hands behind their backs and sitting on them
> for what seemed like hours at a time. I know because it happened to me for
> three long years. Other harsh and abusive methods were used on occasion as
> well. If the JRC is the successor to the Boston Center For Blind Children
> it's a shame that this place is still in business. They should have been
> convicted of child abuse/endangerment and shut down many years ago.
>
> This is all the more the reason to establish strong NOPBC Affiliates in
> all 50 states including Massachusetts. It's better to have a national
> network of parents of blind children to set the standards for how blind
> kids
> are educated, and to serve as a "Watch-dog" to ensure that outfits like the
> BCBC and the JRC are put out of business so they will never harm another
> blind child!
>
> While I would like to believe that this is not true as one who
> personally experienced such abusive treatment by so-called schools for the
> blind in Massachusetts it doesn't surprise me that an outfit like this
> exists.
>
> Peter Donahue who hopes and prays that there will soon be an affiliate of
> the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children in Massachusetts to
> truly create a future full of possibilities for blind kids in the Bay
> State.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sherri" <flmom2006 at gmail.com>
> To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;>
> Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 6:26 AM
> Subject: [Blindtlk] Fw: Mass. school electrocutes blind girl
>
>
> I am passing this along in hopes that all will sign. This is just
> unbelievable. Even my County Disability Coordinator shared this. Thanks.
>
> Sherri
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Samme.Ripley at ocfl.net
> Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2012 12:06 PM
> Subject: FW: Mass. school electrocutes blind girl
>
>
> Sharing………………..this video can be very compelling for those familiar with
> electric shocking of disabled students in past years.
>
>
>
> …Samme
>
>
>
> From: Sherri [mailto:flmom2006 at gmail.com]
> Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2012 6:00 PM
> To: Ripley, Samme
> Subject: Fw: Mass. school electrocutes blind girl
>
>
>
> Do you know anything about this? This is outrageous if it's true!
>
>
>
> Sherri
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> From: Jon Perri, Change.org
>
> To: flmom2006 at gmail.com
>
> Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2012 4:39 PM
>
> Subject: Mass. school electrocutes blind girl
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> VIDEO: Special needs student electroshocked. Tell his
> Massachusetts school to stop using electroshock devices on children.
>
>
>
> Sign Gregory's Petition
>
>
>
> Sherri -
>
> In 2002, a special needs student named Andre McCollins was
> allegedly strapped down and electrocuted for hours, leaving him with
> permanent brain damage, all because he refused to take off his jacket. The
> people torturing Andre were officials at his school. You can watch what
> happened on video.
>
> The video was shot at a Massachusetts school for special needs
> kids called the Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC). Gregory Miller used to be a
> teacher there, and he says electrocuting kids as punishment is extremely
> common -- even for minor offenses like raising your hand to go to the
> bathroom.
>
> "A non-verbal, nearly blind girl with cerebral palsy was shocked
> for attempts to hold a staff member's hand -- her attempts to communicate
> and to be loved," Gregory says.
>
> Gregory desperately wants to help the kids at the JRC - that's
> why he started a petition on Change.org demanding that the JRC stop using
> electroshock to punish kids. Click here to add your name.
>
> Gregory says the JRC's founder created electroshock devices
> which are even stronger than police stun guns to punish students for bad
> behavior. An official at the United Nations said that using these devices
> on
> children is considered torture.
>
> According to the Boston Globe, the JRC’s founder resigned after
> being charged with misleading a grand jury by destroying video footage of
> other students being shocked.
>
> Gregory believes that if thousands of people sign his petition,
> his former bosses will capitulate in the intense pressure generated by a
> national spotlight.
>
> Click here to sign Gregory's petition demanding that the JRC
> immediately cease its practice of punishing special needs kids with
> electroshock devices.
>
> Thanks for being a change-maker,
>
> - Jon and the Change.org team
>
> This email was sent by Change.org to flmom2006 at gmail.com |
> Start a petition
> Unsubscribe. Edit your email notification settings.
>
>
>
>
>
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