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. Governor Moves to Stop Shock Therapy on Developmentally Disabled

BOSTON -- Lawmakers may have scrapped a plan to heavily restrict the use of skin shock therapy in Massachusetts for severely disabled residents, but the Patrick administration is moving ahead with a proposal that would eliminate the practice for all future patients and require annual reviews for patients already receiving the controversial treatment.

In new regulations proposed by the Department of Developmental Services, treatments that cause physical pain – such as “spanking, slapping, hitting or contingent skin shock,” also known as aversive therapy – would no longer be a permissible treatment option for residents with developmental disabilities.

Only those with court-ordered treatment plans in effect by Sept. 1, 2011 that include aversive therapy would be able to continue receiving it.