Category: Health and Wellness
"This is worse than a nightmare," Cheryl McCollins said about her disabled son, Andre. "It is horrific. And poor Andre, who had to suffer through this,
and not know why."
The ordeal began after Andre hit a staff member. Inside a classroom, as a camera was recording, he was tied to a restraint board, face down, a helmet over
his head.
He stayed like that for seven hours without a break, no food, no water, or trips to the bathroom. Each time he screamed or tensed up, he was shocked, 31
times in all. His mother called the next day to check on him.
"I said, 'Andre.' I said, 'Hello.' And so he said, 'Help me,'" McCollins said.
After spending three days in a comatose state, not eating or drinking, Andre was taken to Children's Hospital, where he was diagnosed with "acute stress
response" caused by the shocks.
"The doctors took all the shackles and all those things off of him. Andre's not talking to me. I'm just holding him and telling him how much I love him,
and asking him please to talk to me, just tell me what happened," McCollins said.
What happened that morning in October 2002 became clear after the Rotenberg Center showed her the video of Andre's ordeal, recorded by the classroom camera.
"When I viewed the tape, I saw Andre walking into a room, someone asking him to take off his coat. Andre said no, they shocked him, he went underneath
the table trying to get away from them. They pulled him out, tied him up and they continued to shock him," McCollins said.
"When you look at that videotape, what was the purpose of all those shocks?" asked FOX Undercover reporter Mike Beaudet.
"I have no idea," McCollins replied.
"Did you get an apology?" Beaudet asked.
"No, they felt what they did was therapy," McCollins replied.
"Does that look like therapy to you?" Beaudet asked.
"No, it was torture," McCollins said.
For now, the public can't see for themselves what Andre's treatment looks like because the Rotenberg Center asked a Norfolk Superior Court judge to seal
the video tape, saying it would be unsettling for viewers who didn't understand the context. The judge agreed, and the video remains under a protective
order.
"This is video they fought vehemently not to release, fought vehemently to keep quiet and I think now are very concerned that this tape is out there,"
said attorney Andrew Meyer, who represents Andre McCollins in a lawsuit against the Rotenberg Center.
"The Judge Rotenberg Center has consistently gotten away with being able to soft sell their treatment, to whitewash what they've done about it being therapeutic:
'It's not so bad, it helps these children.' But the eyewitness accounts that we now have about what actually goes on at this center puts to lie everything
they've been saying," Meyer said.
But not everyone agrees. When asked about the perception that electric shock therapy is torture, school attorney Michael Flammia said, "Absolutely wrong."
Flammia would not talk about Andre McCollins.
"But I can tell you I'm familiar with every kid who has been at the school, who have been at the school over 20 years and I can promise you the treatment
here is safe, it's effective, it's administered properly and every kid has benefited enormously from it," Flammia said.
"We talked with a parent who says, 'Put that video out there, let the public see what happened to my son here. Let them see what she calls torture,'" asked
FOX Undercover's Beaudet.
"The matter is in the hands of the courts and we have complete confidence in the court system on that particular matter," Flammia replied.
"So you don't want us to see that video?" Beaudet asked.
"It's in the hands of the court," Flammia replied.
But McCollins says the public needs to see the video of what happened to her son.
"I hope this stops it. I hope this tape being exposed puts an end to this torture. Because I feel it. You watch it, you feel it," McCollins said. "How
do we sit here and let this go on?"
It's certainly getting tougher for the Rotenberg Center to use these shocks.
New York and Massachusetts recently barred shocks on new students, though the school is fighting those restrictions in New York and is planning to do so
here.
This is also not the first time this kind of video has become a problem for the center. Last year, the school's founder, Matthew Israel, was indicted on
charges that he ordered video of improperly shocked students to be erased despite an ongoing investigation.
Israel agreed to a deal that gives him pre-trial probation in exchange for his stepping down from the school.
I admit I don't know a whole lot about electro shock theropy, but what I do know and have heard is extremely unsettling. I've heard it said we don't know why electro shock works; we just use it. I wouldn't be at all surprised. I think mental illness in generally is extremely misudnerstood, misdiagnosed and mistreated more often than not. Of course it doesn't help that I read One Flew Over the CooCoo's Nest which, while fiction, certainly paints a dismal picture of the psychiatric treatment of the time. Coupled with what I've heard form people who have been in psychiatric wards and I'm prepared to accept that there's a lot of mal-practice going on.
Some seem to see torture as one of those ancient methods of punishment. This shows it certainly is not just ancient, though we've come up with more modern methods than the iorn maiden, for example. Is it any safer? some would argue that it is, but that also depends on the severity of the electric shocks. Regardless, the behavior and the aditude in general of the staff members of this center is beyond disturbing, to say the least. I honestly believe that anyone who is going to administer any kind of a punishment, no matter what the methods, should be required to experience it, at least once, so they know exactly what they're doing to their victims. Somehow, I highly doubt that any of the staff at this center have ever experienced any form of electric shock therapy. If I'm wrong, however, that doesn't suddenly justify the behavior.
We're a brutal and inventive collective I'm afraid. As a whole I'm sure we're a tiny bit more civilized these days, but the human race's cruelty is still very prominent. I whole-heartedly agree with you about having to experience the pain you inflict on others. It'll never happen, but it would be nice.
I am personally in favour of torture, but only for the truly guilty, and even then, only for serious crimes like rape, murder, abuse, causing harm to the nation, withholding valuable information which could lead to the deaths of innocents etc. But never on children, particularly if they don't know what they're doing. This is yet another reason why I support euthanising those who can never learn to take care of themselves, who will never be able to grasp basic concepts of things and/or who are criminally insane.
Some of these people in public institutions, OK many of these people in public institutions, need a rectal boot insert. Steel-toed would be preferred.
While I admit I don't know much about this school or this story itself, no one has mentioned the obvious:
Why did this mother check on her child "the next day"? Is this a residential care facility? A school (classroom)?
Depending on how long my child had been attending a school/center, I would be one of those crazy over-protective mothers calling every day if my child wasn't in my care...
I read the story and I can say that this was indeed a horrible act. Yup, torture is the correct word. Shame on the staff.
saying they have nothing to hide is utter bologna. considering they're so adamant about not exposing the video, that shows they know shock therapy is wrong (even if it's simply deep down). I certainly hope the truth is known.
I find it ironic that when we hear about torture cases in other countries, everyone; the government, people dealing with world affairs, civilians; everyone here gets all worked up and demands to get involved and stop the injustice. But this proves these sorts of things are happening right here at home, and although we have some people who are outraged, and determined to make the behavior stop, most of these people are parents or others who have a personal connection to one or more of the kids at this place. this video should *not* be hidden. It wouldn't be if it were taken in another country, so it sure as hell shouldn't be here.
I agree with you Ocean Dream. I also think it's interesting that there are those who will get worked up about the injustices and indecencies carried out in other countries, but could really care less about stuff happening in their own.
Exactly. that's what I was trying to point out. We really need to fix our own affairs before we get involved with those in other countries.
I agree completely.
For that matter, we need to be a strong example of unity, integrity and prosparity.
One thing that gets me is that the judges agree with keeping the video hidden; therefore, these people are being protected and allowed to continue these heinous acts against children that don't know any better, rather than being stopped. I feel that, if these schools or centers are committing these types of acts of torture, they should be shut down completely!
The only possibility is they're concernned about the over-reaction they'd get if they let it go public. I highly doubt this; I'm sure it's jsut as bad as we all think it is. But people tend to want to see something that isn't necessarily there when perception colors their vision. Nobody wants to see someone shocked and restrained. it's possible people would make more out of it than is actually portrayed. Again, I highly doubt this is the case; I don't trust the medical profession as a whole most of the time. But people absolutely love scandal and contraversy, especially when they can rant and rave about it without actually doing anything about it.
Or maybe there's a more ominous reason. Maybe it's because kids are rarely taken seriously, and whatever problems they do have are attributed to their immaturity and powerlessness to change the actions of the adults around them. The mentally ill aren't exactly held in high esteem in this country, let alone mentally ill children.
Dang, what is wrong with people these days? The mom shouldn't have sent the disabled child away.
It's hard to blame the mother for sending the child away before she became aware of this. this center can obviously market themselves very well as a training center, correctional facility, or a special school who can help children with disabilities lead active and productive lives. What parent wouldn't be thrilled to hear this? Personally, the term "correctional facility" puts up red flags for me, but more about that another time.
the only thing I could encourage this mother to do is take a firm stand against this place, and refuse to back down no matter what happens. If she can get other parents of children who are, or have ever been there involved, they may eventually be able to have this place shut down.
That sounds so tar able.
I would not want my daughter to go threw that at all.
What horrible sitution to have to go threw.
"Correctional facility." Now that doesn't sound disturbing at all. Kind of like "rehab" for the visually impaired.
good point.