[Blindtlk] Abuse of Blind Children
Peter Donahue
pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com
Tue May 22 19:39:28 UTC 2012
Hello Brian and everyone,
Chapter 766 was a law enacted in the state of Massachusetts in 1972 that
mandated that children with disabilities be main-streamed in to public
schools instead of being placed in places like schools for the blind, deaf,
etc. It is commonly hailed as the first law of its kind that required public
schools to accept and accommodate children with disabilities. This law was
the model on which Federal Legislation was based. It's this legislation that
eventually became IDEA. Hope that answers your question.
Peter Donahue
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian Miller" <brianrmiller88 at gmail.com>
To: "'Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2012 2:25 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Abuse of Blind Children
Hi peter,
What is chapter 766?
Thanks,
Brian M
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Peter Donahue
> Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2012 2:43 PM
> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
> Subject: [Blindtlk] Abuse of Blind Children
>
> 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.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> PLEASE NOTE: Florida has a very broad public records law
> (F. S. 119).
> >> All e-mails to and from County Officials are kept as a
> public record.
> >> Your e-mail communications, including your e-mail address may be
> >> disclosed to the public and media at any time.
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