A Seat at the Table
If someone were to walk up to you today and tell you that electric shocks are being used on the disabled, you would perhaps think you had accidentally teleported back to the 1500s. Yet that is the reality we are living in currently. The Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC) is a behavioral school for children and adults with severe disabilities. It has been under scrutiny for decades due to its questionable methods, namely for its blatant and severe abuse of its students. The rap sheet is a mile long, with some cases even resulting in death. There was a 12-year-old who had the skin on his feet completely removed, a 22-year-old who died from a seizure after having his head locked between the legs of a staff member and being forced to put on a white noise helmet, children who were strapped down and shocked repeatedly for ‘offenses’ like stimming, crying, not waking up fast enough – the list goes on (Autistic Advocacy).
Not only does this school employ high voltage electric shocks to keep the children obedient and in line under the guise of therapy, but it has also received funding from the government, a whopping $1.76 million (Peterson, 2020), in spite of previous attempts by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health to have the school’s license removed and the FDA’s ban on the use of “electrical stimulation devices for self-injurious or aggressive behavior” (FDA, 2020). The ban, which had originally seemed like a step forward, ended up getting overturned in July of 2021 by the D.C. Circuit Court after the JRC filed a lawsuit against the FDA. Why is it that the photographs, the first-hand accounts of survivors, the security footage, the deaths, and the involvement of the FDA in the case aren’t enough? Why is it that in spite of all the evidence piled up over the decades and the numerous policy violations, the school is still operating? It could be because 82.6% (NeuroClastic, 2022) of the victims are disabled people of color.
People of color are already at a disadvantage in numerous aspects of their lives, having to endure racism, higher rates of poverty, and discrimination in the workforce and healthcare system. When that intersects with disability as well, things are bound to escalate. A study analyzing racial disparities in people with disabilities (Goyat et al., 2016) found that due to lower socioeconomic status in terms of family, education, and income, people of color, especially African Americans, had a higher prevalence of severe disabilities within their communities. The lack of funding and accessible resources available to people in these communities is what leads families to a dead end in terms of how to help or get help learning how to navigate the disabilities of a loved one. Is it really a wonder so many of them, in their desperation, turn to places like the JRC? If there had been more time and care invested in policies and laws that protected those with disabilities rather than continuing to infantilize them and treat them as lesser people, perhaps places like JRC would’ve never existed, to begin with.
It’s no surprise that this isn’t the case though. There are already numerous organizations that have made it their goal to give those with disabilities the space and the platform to speak for themselves, and some have made a lot of impacts, like the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN). However, it would make a big difference to have these voices amplified by the government and on a federal level. People with disabilities can add a new perspective to discussions and social institutions that would’ve never crossed most people's minds. Only 10.3% of elected officials have a disability, and most of them are elected on a local level only and are white, non-Hispanic men (Rutgers, 2019). The rest, 89.7%, are able-bodied. How much can an able-bodied individual really understand when it comes to living with a disability? Of course, the disabled wouldn’t be their main concern, because the majority of them don’t understand what it’s like to be seen as lesser than, for people to take advantage of their vulnerability. Those who are disabled are over three times more likely to experience violence like sexual assault and robbery than those who are able-bodied (CDR, 2015). The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty found that 38.6% of the homeless living in shelters are disabled (2018), which means that the number is higher than that of those who aren’t in shelters are considered. Not to mention discrimination in the workforce, the lack of sufficient educational resources, and many other aspects of day-to-day life that able-bodied people don’t pick up on. It’s a whole different world and experience, and it’s absolutely necessary to let people with disabilities have a spot at the table so that these issues can be addressed. No one is more qualified to tackle these problems than those who live them first-hand and on the daily basis.
Works Cited
Davies, Q. (2014). “Prisoners of the Apparatus”: The Judge Rotenberg Center. Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN).
FDA. (2020). FDA Takes Rare Step to Ban Electrical Stimulation Devices for Self-Injurious or Aggressive Behavior: Devices Found to Present Unreasonable and Substantial Risk of Illness or Injury. U.S. Food and Administration.
Goyat, R., Vyas, A., & Sambamoorthi, U. (2016). Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Disability Prevalence. Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 3(4), 635–645. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-015-0182-z
Morgan, C. (2015). The Unacknowledged Crisis of Violence Against Disabled People. Center for Disability Rights (CDR).
Peterson, S. (2020). Rotenberg Center gets virus funding. The Sun Chronicle.
Press Release: Judge Rotenberg Center Threatens NeuroClastic with Defamation Suit. (2022). NeuroClastic. https://neuroclastic.com/press-release-judge-rotenberg-center-threatens-neuroclastic-with-defamation-suit/
Schur, L., Kruse, D. (2019). Report: 1 in 10 Politicians Has a Disability. That's a Gap in Representation. Rutger’s School of Management and Labor Relations (SMLR).
