Tell Massachusetts: No Child Deserves Painful Shock Treatment

"How many times do you have to zap a child before it's torture?" Jennifer Gonnerman asked five years ago. But whatever the number, Judge Rotenberg Center in MA has met the quota many times--often doling out harsh physical punishment to autistic or mentally disabled children

To modify behavior, this special-needs school wires its children to receive repeated electric shocks, a form of punishment not even allowed in US prisons. The center's website says it uses a reward system, along with "optional intensive treatment" if rewards alone are ineffective.

But investigative reports show the treatment is anything but optional. Even though Mother Jones publicized the center's painful methods in 2007, the school managed to stay open. A new, literally shocking video of one child's torture may change this, however.

But closing the school is not enough. This must never happen again in the state of Massachusetts. Support the Massachusetts bill to ban shock "therapy."