Posts tagged autism
Founder of electric shock autism treatment school forced to quit
Institute uses punishment machine to discipline severely autistic and emotionally disturbed children by giving them electric shocks The founder of a controversial school that treats severely autistic and emotionally disturbed children by shocking them into submission with the use of electrodes has been forced to quit the institution and serve five years’ probation. Matthew Israel, a Harvard-trained psychologist, has created a treatment that is unique to the US and possibly the world. The Judge Rotenberg Center , just outside Boston, disciplines its students using a punishment machine that Israel invented called the GED, which gives a two-second electric shock to the skin of up to 90 milliamps
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Founder of electric shock autism treatment school forced to quit
Kayte Brimacombe photography exhibition One in Ten
As many as one in ten people with Down’s syndrome have the additional diagnosis of autism. Here we present Kayte Brimacombe’s photographs of ten children and adults with the dual diagnosis, while their carers discuss daily life. Brimacombe’s exhibition, One in Ten, is at the Oxo Gallery, London, until 27 March as part of a group exhibition, Shifting Perspectives, to coincide with Down’s syndrome awareness week
Jonathan is now 14, he attends Oak Lodge Special school.
“We knew that Jonathan was different from other children with Downʼs syndrome at about 4 years. He had stopped making progress, he didn’t speak any more or make any sounds away from home. We had no eye contact and he was happier just playing alone. He enjoyed the company of other children but did not interact with them. Jonathan was finally diagnosed when he was 10. Because of Jonathan’s autism he lives in a different world. He has great difficulty communicating; he loves to go to the theatre to see shows like Joseph, the Lion King and Thriller Live. Jonathan is very, very happy, and is loved by everyone he meets. He needs to be watched over all the time, cannot go out with his peers alone. He needs someone assisting him at the after school clubs and activities he takes part in. Our hopes are that Jonathan is happy, well cared for and can learn the skills to attend to his personal care.”
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Kayte Brimacombe photography exhibition One in Ten
Shock tactics: Treatment or torture? | Matthew Israel
The entrance to the Judge Rotenberg Centre, in a suburb of Boston, is a riot of bright colours and surreal designs. The receptionist greets visitors from a deep purple chair in front of yellow and pink neon panels. Corridors are lit by elaborate chandeliers and lined with 6ft models of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. There is a meeting space, called the Whimsy Room, that has a purple shag-pile carpet, and pink, mauve and lime-green walls hung with carnival masks.
But the decor is far from the most unusual aspect of this establishment. It is the only school in the US, perhaps the world, that uses pain as a treatment for children and adults with severe autism or emotional problems.
Residents at the school carry small rucksacks, trailing wires that lead under their clothes and end in electrodes attached to their skin. Each rucksack contains a box, operated by staff members via remote control. When a button on the controller is pressed, a signal is sent generating a charge that delivers an electric shock to the skin. The teachers regularly inflict electric shocks on students, some as young as eight, zapping them for up to two seconds on their legs, arms or stomach.
Ever since it was founded, 40 years ago, the school has been the subject of fierce controversy. Critics say the use of pain on society’s most vulnerable members is a disgrace that should not be tolerated in any country. But supporters of the school, including several parents, say its practice of “aversive therapy” has improved lives, and in some cases saved their children from self-induced injury or even death.
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Shock tactics: Treatment or torture? | Matthew Israel
Autism diagnosis in children must improve, NHS told
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence demands improvements for families sent ‘from pillar to post’ seeking help. See also: My Family and Autism
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Autism diagnosis in children must improve, NHS told
The upside of living with Asperger’s | Yousif Nur
At a very early age I knew I was somehow different from the others. An unexplainable difference in behaviour, idiosyncrasies and just having bags more energy than other toddlers. Couple that with numerous trips to different psychiatrists asking why I had frequent tantrums and crying fits, and was very antisocial with other schoolkids. Something was mostly definitely wrong with me. My parents were unnerved by it. It was not so much that I had a problem with myself but, rather, a question mark tattooed on my forehead. I was lost in a limbo of myself. And so it went on for a number of years.
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The upside of living with Asperger’s | Yousif Nur
Autism to be Brought into NI Mainstream
Dominic Bradley
Northern Ireland’s 30,000 people with autism will see improvements to the way they are treated, if new legislation is passed.
Proposed reforms would ensure that autistic people in Northern Ireland are included in disability legislation and that comprehensive services are provided to them and their families from their earliest years through the course of their lives on a cross-departmental basis.
SDLP MLA Dominic Bradley, who chairs the all-party Assembly group on autism, is piloting the Autism Bill Northern Ireland through the Assembly.
Source: Belfast Telegraph
