[Blindtlk] Fw: Mass. school electrocutes blind girl

Chris Nusbaum dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com
Sat May 26 02:53:42 UTC 2012


Peter,

Thank you very much for that NFB history summary! Amen to all of what you have said! By the way, for those of you who would like to learn more of what Peter is talking about and much more NFB history, I would strongly encourage reading Walking Alone and Marching Together: a History of the Organized Blind in the United States. The Alabama and Florida stories are covered in Chapter 12 of the book, and the entire story of NAC is discussed in Chapter 11, which deals exclusively with the NFB's dealings with NAC. I'm in the middle of reading the book currently, and am in Chapter 7 right now, although I have skipped around a little as different things have come up such as this story. Walking Alone and Marching Together is available from NLS WebBraille (which has now merged with BARD, apparently,) from the Electronic Braille Book Library at www.braille.org, and from the NFB Web site.

Thanks and here's hoping that all of you have a wonderful and relaxing Memorial Day weekend,

Chris

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Peter Donahue
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2012 10:22 PM
To: Blind Talk Mailing List
Cc: Mary Donahue
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Fw: Mass. school electrocutes blind girl

Hello Rene and everyone,

    Thanks for the additional information concerning this center. Canton? 
It's just up the road from Brockton where I used to live. I sure hope that the Massachusetts Hospital School didn't become the JRC we're talking about. 
Yikes! I'm glad I'm no longer alone in sharing what information I could about the treatment of blind and disabled children at certain schools in Massachusetts and God only knows where else.

    In light of your post and some private e-mail correspondence a little NFB history is in order as well.

        One of the great things about back issues of the Braille Monitor coming online is that members and others interested in the affairs of the blind can among other things read about our attempts to reform the National Accreditation Counsel for Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped (NAC.) The NFB has been highly critical of this so-called accreditation body due to its lack of consumer participation and the type of agencies it accredited. For example NAC accredited schools for the blind where blind children died or were seriously injured. The Florida and Alabama Schools for the Deaf and Blind are two examples. By giving its "Seal of approval" to these schools by accrediting them they were sanctioning the treatment these students received.
    It's interesting that NAC never accredited the Boston Center for Blind Children. they were exactly the kind of agency that would have received accreditation had they applied for it. Then there's the possibility that they did apply for NAC accreditation but was denied. If this was so NAC did one thing right. Guess that's one feather in NAC'S cap. NAC'S deeds and misdeeds are legendary and well documented by the NFB. Their accreditation of schools for the blind is just one part of NAC'S sorry legacy.

         If anyone is considering placement of a blind child in any specialized facility learn as much about them as you can. Talk to parents of other blind children enrolled at these facilities but be sure they'll be honest and truthful. Like Rene said there's a temptation to be lead to believe that the "Professionals" that run these centers have all the answers and know what's best for their blind child when they're really ravening wolves in sheep's clothing.

    I'll conclude by paraphrasing the advice given to riders concerning security on our local transit busses when it comes to placement of blind and other disabled children in specialized facilities, "If something doesn't look right, sound right, smell right, or doesn't feel right, you're best to consider another placement option." All the best.

Peter Donahue

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michelle Medina" <michellem86 at gmail.com>
To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2012 8:26 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Fw: Mass. school electrocutes blind girl


Ugh!!! Yes, as I said before, this is sickening!!! Thank you for the info 
Rene!!

Me thinks it's time for the NFB to step in since MASS is having such a
hard time doing it on it's own.

On 5/25/12, Nikki Wunderlich <nikki0222 at gmail.com> wrote:
> wow thanks for the information
> Nikki Wunderlich
> email, face book,haytell, voxer, face time iMessage and MSN
> nikki0222 at gmail.com
> aim and yahoo nikkiwunderlich
> skype and twitter nikki022285
> zello nikki wunderlich
> cell 763-248-0106
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Rene Harrell" <rjharrell at gmail.com>
> To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, May 25, 2012 7:39 PM
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Fw: Mass. school electrocutes blind girl
>
>
> Hi all!
>
> I saw this come up in my email, I wanted to add some information that 
> might
> be useful to the discussion.
>
> First all, I grew up in Massachusetts and in my pre-mommy life, I worked 
> as
> an educational liaison/advocate for kids committed to the custody of the
> Massachusetts Department of Youth Services. There are actually several
> Rotenberg Centers in Massachusetts, run by different organizations for 
> very
> different purposes, Judge Rotenberg must have been a popular guy! I 
> married
> a military officer, so I left for eight years, but I have been back for a
> little less than a year in MA.
>
> The one being spoken of here is the Judge Rotenberg Center is Canton, MA.
> They have been the JRC for as long as I have known, and I do not believe
> they have operated under any other name. They have a long, sordid history
> of controversy and there have been several unsuccessful attempts to have
> them closed. The last big push to shut them down came in 2001-2002 when I
> was still working for the Department, and it generated a lot of news and a
> lot of concerted organized advocacy to get this school closed, but they
> weathered through the period of publicity, laid low out of the news for a
> while, and kept right on going.
>
> The article posted originally is from the last great outcry to close JRC,
> but this is actually still a very, very VERY current issue. There was just
> a settlement between the JRC and the family of an autistic boy who was
> repeatedly shocked as "discipline". His family caught it on video, of him
> being shocked over thirty times and screaming for help. They settled out 
> of
> court in April,  but it has once again begun a small, not very well
> publicized but still very genuine effort to try once again to get JRC
> closed, or to ban them from using "aversive therapy" as a tool. Anderson
> Cooper covered this most recent case on A360 a few days ago, and here is a
> link
> http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/22/tonight-on-ac360-school-treats-autistic-students-with-electric-shocks/?hpt=ac_mid
>
> One of the people leading the current charge against the JRC is Senator
> Brian A. Joyce, who is the Massachusetts state senator who is elected and
> serves on behalf of Canton, where the Rotenberg Center is located. He is 
> an
> outspoken critic of their practices and has introduced legislation to have
> the practice banned, though right now that legislation hasn't gone 
> anywhere
> in the House.
>
> Sen. Joyce is actually going to do a live chat on a local Canton website 
> on
> June 1st from 11:30-12:30 pm. You can see the details for that chat here:
> http://canton.patch.com/articles/live-chat-with-sen-brian-a-joyce-on-the-judge-rotenberg-center
>
> Anyone who is interested in protecting the rights of disabled children to
> be free from abuse in their school environments should definitely think
> about submitting a question, joining the live chat, or writing Sen. Joyce
> directly. Of course, voices from Massachusetts itself are especially
> valuable and welcoming.
>
> Part of the long standing problem in affecting change at the Judge
> Rotenberg Center is not only their firm belief in aversive "therapy", but
> also in recruiting families who are willing to buy into and support their
> use of aversive therapy. Make no mistake, they are very deliberate in this
> and in their political strategy.... as evidenced by the fact that they are
> still around, and still doing this to children right up to May 25th, 2012.
>
> It will not stop without a concerted, systemic and sustained effort to 
> make
> it stop. I really hope that with Sen. Joyce leading the charge, there is a
> real chance at getting this banned in the next legislative session, but it
> is going to take a lot more voices than just Sen. Joyce in order to make
> that happen.
>
> Hope that helps,
> Rene H.
> Mom to five amazing wonderkids, including delightful Miss Clare, age 10,
> Retinopathy of Prematurity, autism, developmental delay
>
> On Fri, May 25, 2012 at 3:58 PM, Chris Nusbaum
> <dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Wow!! I sincerely hope and pray that this is not true, but if it is, this
>> is very wrong, and I believe that all blind people should sign this
>> petition! As a matter of fact, to me, this isn't really a blindness
>> issue;
>> it is an issue of child abuse! Isn't child abuse a criminal offense? I
>> wonder, assuming this is true, how in the world this school got away with
>> this sort of treatment legally? Some kind of loophole, I assume.
>>
>> Chris Nusbaum
>>
>> "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
>> 2 Corinthians 5:7
>>
>> Sent from my BrailleNote
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Sherri" <flmom2006 at gmail.com
>> To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;
>> sent: Mon, 21 May 2012 07:26:12 -0400
>> 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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>
>
> --
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> where I needed to be."
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-- 
What if the one thing that I missed,
Was everything I need to pass the test,
And if I fail what happens then,
Can I still count on you as a friend
"Live to Rise"--Christopher Cornell/Soundgarden, from The Avengers 
Soundtrack

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