On August 30 I wrote about an article on the Judge Rotenberg Center in Massachusetts, which treats the behaviour of troubled children. The post can be found here. The piece in Mother Jones referred to the centre’s use of electrocshock therapy for children as young as nine or ten.

Since the post, Matthew L Israel, who is head of the centre, visited the blog and commented on the article. Although I can’t confirm it was in fact he who posted, the ISP matches that of the Rotenberg Center. In the interest of right of reply, I offer you his what he has to say:

Ms. Gonnerman’s article “School of Shock,” which appears in the September/October issue of the Mother Jones magazine, is an entirely one-sided and biased account of the court- and parent-approved behavior modification therapy used at the Judge Rotenberg Center to successfully treat, without drugs, severe (sometimes life-threatening) behavior problems of children and young adults with special needs that have not responded to any other form of treatment. For readers who would like to hear the other side of this story, please see http://www.judgerc.org/ResponsetoGonnermanArticle.pdf

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