Stop the Shock
**Trigger warning: mentions of abuse on autistic students**
From the start of preschool to my high school graduation, I had an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP). I had a list of accommodations and procedures for teachers to follow when it comes to me. It ranged from allowing me to use calculators to emailing my mom if I was failing the class. One of those was the teachers were not to use corporal punishment on me.
Someone would think, “Well yeah! Why is that needed in your IEP?”
I went to school in Alabama and South Carolina, where corporal punishment is legally allowed in schools.
Despite the rule, I have been spanked by teachers and even once had a paddle shoved in my face with threats all because I told the teacher I already read the book I checked out from the library before the day of class (this was in Alabama).
I have recently been thinking of this accommodation due to the news of the ban on electric shocks being overturned by the federal court, thus allowing it to be used on autistic students again at Judge Rotenberg Educational Center.
For those who do not know anything about Judge Rotenberg Educational Center, it is an “institution” in Massachusetts for students with disabilities. This place is known for using GEDs, Graduated electronic decelerators, on students as it delivers electric shocks to them. It has been reported that students have gotten shocked over the simplest things like moving “too much” or stopping work for more than ten seconds. This place has been in the news multiple times over the decades. One of the stories reported is when a video leaked of a student being shocked thirty-one times while strapped down, all because he did not remove his coat and kept on screaming due to the pain of the shocks (it was at the highest setting).
This breaks my heart. As an autistic person, my heart aches for those who are at this place and in fear of their lives. These students walk on eggshells so that they do not get shocked. Imagine waking up every day at that place of hell, strapping pounds of devices, and being followed by a staff member, praying they would not press the button (as the shocks are turned on by a remote).
People look down on people using shock collars on their dogs, yet they think it is okay to shock disabled children? Paddling can be the worst thing a neurotypical student can get regarding discipline in Alabama, yet the shocks are not seen as such on autistic students. You never thought that human abuse would be practiced on disabled students in America in the modern world. Yet, that is far from the truth.
This is not “behavior correction therapy.” This is abuse. This is abuse on the vulnerable. “Oh, they only use it with parents or guardian’s permission.” IT SHOULD NOT BE AN OPTION. END OF STORY.
Thankfully, we live in a time of digital age, so autistic creators like myself can share this situation and call out on those to help shut this place down. There is a petition, created by the lovely Chloé Hayden, ordering to stop the shocks and to reassess this whole thing. I ask of you to sign.
I often think of myself as a child who was hurt by the teachers with threats and spanking for the craziest things. I was vulnerable and did not know this was not okay. We need to stop the abuse by those who claim to help us. This has to stop.
#StoptheShock