State
stops sending disabled to school using shock therapy
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
BY SUSAN K. LIVIO
Star-Ledger Staff
New Jersey will not send any more
disabled adults to a Massachusetts residential school that uses
electric shock therapy to curb aggressive behavior, a state
spokesman said yesterday.
The Division of Developmental
Disabilities pays $624,000 a year to the Judge Rotenberg Center in
Canton, Mass. for the treatment of three adults with developmental
disabilities and severe behavioral problems, state spokesman Ed
Rogan said.
The three have lived there since
childhood, and the department will not try to remove them because
their families are satisfied with their care, Rogan said.
But to allay state officials'
concerns about the use of electric shock, Rotenberg will try phasing
out the use of "skin stings" on two of the residents with their
parents' permission, said facility director Matthew Israel. If their
behavior doesn't regress, the shock treatments will stop
permanently, he said.
Parents of the third student, who
suffers from significant behavioral problems, has not consented to
stop the treatment, Rotenberg's attorney Michael Flammia said.
The Massachusetts facility remains on
the state Department of Education's list of approved special
education schools, although no New Jersey children attend, state
Education spokesman Jon Zlock said.
If a school district were to pay for
a child to attend Rotenberg, the Developmental Disabilities division
would refuse to pick up the tab when the child became an adult,
Rogan said. "We have suspended any new referrals," Rogan said
because New Jersey "wants to create a culture of positive behavioral
management."
Israel said he was dismayed to learn
of New Jersey's decision. "If a child under the age of 21 was sent
here because he needed the treatment and New Jersey removes him
(when he becomes an adult), it would be extremely unfortunate for
the family," he said.
The decision in New Jersey coincides
with a debate this month in New York, which sends 170 children and
adults to Rotenberg. A Long Island parent filed a notice two weeks
ago saying she intends to sue the Freeport school board for sending
her son to the school where he is subjected to corporal punishment
-- an illegal act in New York schools.
At issue is Rotenberg's use of an
aversion therapy device called the graduated electronic decelerator,
which students wear like a back pack. Low-wattage electrodes
attached to a Velcro strap are wrapped around a student's arm or
leg. A two-second shock is emitted if his or her behavior becomes
aggressive or otherwise hard to control, according to the school's
Web site (www.judgerc.org). The pain feels like a bee sting,
according to the Web site. School officials and some parents attest
the treatment stops their children from hurting themselves and
others.
New Jersey sends 545 people with
developmental disabilities, such as autism, outside the state for
care, paying between $25,000 to $250,000 a year per person, Rogan
said.
Site visits, like the one state
officials recently made to Rotenberg, could become standard practice
if lawmakers adopt a bill known as "Billy's Law," so named after
Billy Albanese of Brooklyn, who was injured while restrained at
Bancroft Neurohealth in Haddonfield more than a decade ago, Rogan
said.
Commissioner Kevin Ryan supports the
bill, Rogan said.
The three have
lived there since childhood, and the department will not try to
remove them because their families are satisfied with their care,
Rogan said.
But to allay state
officials' concerns about the use of electric shock, Rotenberg will
try phasing out the use of "skin stings" on two of the residents
with their parents' permission, said facility director Matthew
Israel. If their behavior doesn't regress, the shock treatments will
stop permanently, he said.
Parents of the
third student, who suffers from significant behavioral problems, has
not consented to stop the treatment, Rotenberg's attorney Michael
Flammia said.
The Massachusetts
facility remains on the state Department of Education's list of
approved special education schools, although no New Jersey children
attend, state Education spokesman Jon Zlock said.
If a school
district were to pay for a child to attend Rotenberg, the
Developmental Disabilities division would refuse to pick up the tab
when the child became an adult, Rogan said. "We have suspended any
new referrals," Rogan said because New Jersey "wants to create a
culture of positive behavioral management."
Israel said he was
dismayed to learn of New Jersey's decision. "If a child under the
age of 21 was sent here because he needed the treatment and New
Jersey removes him (when he becomes an adult), it would be extremely
unfortunate for the family," he said.
The decision in New
Jersey coincides with a debate this month in New York, which sends
170 children and adults to Rotenberg. A Long Island parent filed a
notice two weeks ago saying she intends to sue the Freeport school
board for sending her son to the school where he is subjected to
corporal punishment -- an illegal act in New York schools.
At issue is
Rotenberg's use of an aversion therapy device called the graduated
electronic decelerator, which students wear like a back pack.
Low-wattage electrodes attached to a Velcro strap are wrapped around
a student's arm or leg. A two-second shock is emitted if his or her
behavior becomes aggressive or otherwise hard to control, according
to the school's Web site (www.judgerc.org). The pain feels like a
bee sting, according to the Web site. School officials and some
parents attest the treatment stops their children from hurting
themselves and others.
New Jersey sends
545 people with developmental disabilities, such as autism, outside
the state for care, paying between $25,000 to $250,000 a year per
person, Rogan said.
Site visits, like
the one state officials recently made to Rotenberg, could become
standard practice if lawmakers adopt a bill known as "Billy's Law,"
so named after Billy Albanese of Brooklyn, who was injured while
restrained at Bancroft Neurohealth in Haddonfield more than a decade
ago, Rogan said.
Commissioner Kevin
Ryan supports the bill, Rogan said.
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