[Blindtlk] Abuse of Blind Children
Nimer M. Jaber, IC³
nimerjaber1 at gmail.com
Tue May 22 18:49:22 UTC 2012
The JRC wasn't doing these things to just children. Adults with
developmental and physical disabilities went through the very same
things. I have attempted on numerous occasions to contact the JRC as
well as disability rights groups to get them to take a look at these
issues and the current state of things with no response thus far. I'm
hoping someone'll be able to make more of a difference?
thanks.
On 5/22/12, Peter Donahue <pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com> wrote:
> Hello Steve and everyone,
>
> While I can't speak for repressive agencies in other states I have been
>
> assured that the Boston Center for Blind Children no longer exists. They're
>
> no longer able to do their "Dirty work" on the blind children in that
> state.I read that the JRC is not specifically for the blind. It's just sad
> that a few blind children were placed there; something that officials in
> Massachusetts and other states could have prevented.
>
> The Perkins School for the Blind enjoys a favorable reputation with its
>
> students, staff, and alumni and never had a record of abusing blind students
>
> although they could have done things to prevent students with behavioral
> issues from being bounced around from one institution to another as I was.
> Rather than "Expelling" me after my kindergarten year they could have told
> my mother what was observed by the staff who delt with me and suggested that
>
> I have medical and psychological evaluations during the summer of 1964. A
> diagnosis could have been made and treatment begun before I returned to
> Perkins that fall something that never happened.If Perkins followed the
> aabove course of action they would have protected myself and others from the
>
> kind of abuse we experienced at the hands of these tyrants! Had there been
> IEPS or the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children and strong
> NFB Affiliates our parents could have reached out to for support and to
> advocate on our behalffor a more favorable outcome and to prevent what
> happened to us back then.
>
> One thing Chapter 766 did in the early 1970s is that it gave places like
>
> Perkins a "Wake-up" call. This is the ancestor to the Education of the
> Handicapped Act that among other things mandated that disabled students
> attend public schools rather than specialized schools for them. Perhaps
> fearing that they would be without students to teach Perkins readmitted
> students dismissed in the 1960s including myself in the fall of 1973. The
> events concerning my transfer back to Perkins from the Oak Hill School for
> the Blind are commonly referred to in my family as "The 1973 Uprising."
> While other parents we knew questioned our wish to "dare to take on the
> powers that be" in the end we didn't care. Perkins came clean with us and it
>
> felt good to see those tyrants finally "Get theirs!" I graduated from
> Perkins in 1975.
>
> It's obvious from reading this thread that I was not alone. While our
> affiliates should not serve as a "Police force" to insure that agencies for
>
> the blind in cluding schools for the blind are doing the right thing they
> can reach out to parents and guardians of blind children and youth
> considering placement in such a facility upon request. This is something
> we've said for years. Sharing accounts of this kind will help them formulate
>
> questions to ask when considering such placements to insure tomorrows blind
>
> youngsters will not be subjected to the same abuse we experienced while
> growing up. If we can keep that from happening we will have done our job.
>
> Peter Donahue
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Jacobson"
> <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
> To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>;
> <blinddog3 at charter.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2012 11:51 AM
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Fw: Mass. school electrocutes blind girl
>
>
> Hi,
>
> I may have missed something, but at least some of what I read seemed to have
>
> occurred some time ago.
> That doesn't make what was done right by any means, but do we know what the
>
> current state is?
>
> Best regards,
>
> Steve Jacobson
>
> On Mon, 21 May 2012 18:39:46 -0500, Steven Johnson wrote:
>
>>Ray,
>>The unfortunate part of this whether true or not, is that children are
>>vulnerable, and even more so, children with disabilities even more
>>vulnerable. There are way too many cases where children are restrained,
>>abused, neglected or punished in cruel and unusal ways. If this story is
>>indeed true, lets hope that Mass Department of Human Services along with
>>the
>>NFB can intervene.
>
>>Steve
>
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>Behalf Of Ray Foret Jr
>>Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 10:51 AM
>>To: Blind Talk Mailing List
>>Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Fw: Mass. school electrocutes blind girl
>
>>Well well well, I just cannot believe this!!! I just can't figure in my
>>mind how someone could abuse blind kids. Then again, I shouldn't be one
>> to
>>talk; considering the fact that I was almost strangled to death in my
>>dormitory room. Were it not for a cousin who was living in Baton Rouge at
>>the time and who took me in, I would most likely have had to move to
>>another
>>state and gone to another blind school and goodness knows what all might
>>have happened then.
>
>
>>Sincerely,
>>The Constantly Barefooted Ray!!!
>
>>Now a very proud and happy Mac user!!!
>
>>Skype name:
>>barefootedray
>
>>Facebook:
>>facebook.com/ray.foretjr.1
>
>
>
>>On May 21, 2012, at 10:18 AM, Gloria Whipple wrote:
>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> When my twin brother and I were attending the state school for the blind
>>in Vancouver, My brother and other needy children were tied to hot
>>radiators
>>by one of the house parents.
>>>
>>> One of our fellow students got into a lot of trouble freeing them.
>>>
>>> Sorry for rambling on, but this kind of stuff angers me!
>>>
>>> Gloria Whipple
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>> On Behalf Of Peter Donahue
>>> Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 07:42
>>> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
>>> Cc: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)
>>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Fw: Mass. school electrocutes blind girl
>>>
>>> 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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--
Cordially,
Nimer Jaber
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