Shock in a Backpack
The Graduated Electronic Decelerator is the name of the FDA-approved aversion therapy device used to administer electric shocks to discipline students at the Judge Rotenburg Center. The electric shock transmitted is said to be low-wattage and no more than a “skin-sting.” The Center’s founder and director, Matthew Israel, a Harvard-educated psychologist, refined and patented the Graduated Electronic Decelerator.
A Long Island parent, Evelyn Nicholson, has filed a lawsuit against the Rotenburg Center on behalf of her son whose “aversion therapy program” included use of the Graduated Electronic Decelerator. The Westside Gazette report K. Chandler wrote in Lawsuit claims school is using painful shock therapy to correct children with behavioral problems on April 20:
Derisively described by some critics as primitive and barbaric, this aversion therapy technique is carried out through the use of a backpack that students are made to wear with electrodes attached to their arms, legs and torso. The pain, which results when the transmitter is deployed, has been compared to the pain from a bee sting.
According to Rotenberg administrators, the electric shock lasts for a period of two seconds although it is not at all clear whether the individual deploying the transmitter is restricted to shocking the student just once or is allowed to repeat the procedure (if they fail to obtain compliance), with successive bursts of electrical shocks — not unlike Taser usage – which would no doubt exacerbate the effect of the so-called “bee sting” exponentially.
No doubt.
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Read Autism Vox on Too close to shock.
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5 opinions for Shock in a Backpack
Autism Vox » GED SIBIS, and other weapons
May 23, 2006 at 12:34 pm
[…] The Graduated Electronic Decelerator (GED) mentioned in the previous post, Shock in a backpack, is described by Matthew L Israel, Ph.D., as an aversive therapy stimulator whose “role is to receive the electromagnetic signal sent by the remote control device, and to generate an immediate skin shock.” Dr. Israel notes that Skin shock is not generally used in treatment programs today. This is due to an unfortunate current cultural bias against aversive treatment procedures as well as a general lack of information among the public concerning skin shock’s remarkable effectiveness, its total lack of negative side effects, its safety, and the fact that students often choose it over alternative treatments. […]
Autism Vox » A question for Lenny Schafer
May 26, 2006 at 6:49 am
[…] A Question of ‘Tough Love’ vs. Torture [on electric shock at the JRC] […]
Autism Vox » Aversive Stimulation, Improper Behavior, and the JRC
Feb 20, 2007 at 6:13 pm
[…] This story, which began by showing the awfulness of autism—the kaka of such a “devastating” disorder—can then introduce the JRC as providing a solution, and a solution that works, when none could be found. After noting that “[t]he Dohertys said they were willing to try aversive stimulation to save their son from self-destruction,” the ABC News story describes the electric shock device used by the JRC, the Graduated Electronic Decelerator. A student wears a backpack containing the transmitter that administers the sock via electrodes attached to the student’s arms, legs and torso. The ABC News story continues: Though many people object to this type of punishment, Dr. Matthew Israel, the founder and director of the J.R.C., said “the device is simply a device that administers a two-second shock to the surface of the skin that has absolutely no side effects, [and] is extremely effective as a corrective procedure to encourage children not to show violent behavior, not to show self-abusive behavior.” […]
The JRC, a prank phone call, and 2 students get shocked
Dec 19, 2007 at 5:43 am
[…] mental retardation at the Judge Rotenburg Center in Canton, MA—-aversion therapy that uses electric shock transmitted by a device called the Graduated Electronic Decelerator—-and most people will […]
Autism Vox
Dec 25, 2007 at 5:47 am
[…] Use of Shock Therapy about the Massachusetts Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC). The JRC uses electric shock transmitted by a device called the Graduated Electronic Decelerator (see a picture here) in […]
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