Families Testify on Shock Therapy

As the Massachusettes legislature considers four bills to curtail the use of shock therapy on the developmentally disabled, individuals and their families are stepping forward with their own diverse testimonies on the controversial method.

BOSTON -- It has become a wrenching but familiar sight for members of the Legislature: Brandon Sanchez - restrained by his uncle, Representative Jeffrey Sanchez - writhing as he attempts to kick, claw, and slap at his own face, the self-injurious consequence of a debilitating mental disorder.

In some ways, Brandon has become the poster child for the Judge Rotenberg Center, a Canton special needs institution that backers say is the only one in the country to apply skin shock therapy to the severely disabled, a method labeled by some lawmakers as barbaric and torture but supported by families of patients who say it is their last resort.

Mass. Residents with Disabilities Sue State Health Care Agency

BOSTON -- Eight disabled residents and a local advocacy group filed a lawsuit in federal court yesterday against the state agency that provides health care to more than a million low-income people, arguing it has failed to comply with laws that require documents to cater to the needs of the deaf, blind, and other physically and mentally impaired recipients of care.

On the 21st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Boston-based Disability Policy Consortium and other plaintiffs - four who are blind, two who are deaf, and two with other disabilities - filed a suit in US District Court in Boston, alleging MassHealth violated the law by failing to provide written notices in Braille or other electronic forms, failing to use American Sign Language to communicate, and not listing phone numbers to help the hearing impaired on the agency’s website.

“The ADA was pretty clear that state governments have to make communications accessible to people with disabilities, so they can participate as fully as anyone else,’’ said Bill Allan, executive director of the Disability Policy Consortium. “The Commonwealth has ignored this issue for years. It has been brought up to them in reports and by individuals. It’s time for them to take action.’’