Torture not Treatment - Disability Rights International

TORTURE NOT TREATMENT
Creating social isolation
To further maintain strict control, socialization among students, between students and staff, and
among staff, is also extremely limited. 108 For students, socialization with other peers must be
earned. Children spend their school days in classrooms facing the walls and staring at a computer
screen. Using self-teaching software, conversations and discussions are virtually non-existent
and getting up from a chair or attempting to leave the classroom without permission could result
in a shock or other form of punishment.
JRC promotes a setting that discourages social interaction between staff and students
and among students. – Member of New York State Education Department review
team 109
One student stated she felt depressed and fearful…She is not permitted to initiate
conversation with any member of the staff. Her greatest fear was that she would
remain at JRC beyond her 21 st birthday. – Report, New York State Education
Department review team 110
Additionally, staff is not allowed to carry on any personal conversations with the students and all
are under 24 hour video surveillance. Employees must also sign a confidentiality agreement at
the beginning of their tenure with JRC, effectively barring them from ever talking about what
they observe or participate in at the school – including the use of GEDs – or face legal action
against them by the school. 111
You are sworn to secrecy. It is like a secret society. We had to sign a paper that if we
said anything that would harm their reputation, they would prosecute you. If you
talked bad about the school, everything is taped. If we needed to talk, we had to go
outside. – MDRI interview with former JRC employee 112
Aversives for harmless behavior
One of the critiques of the GED identified by the NYSED evaluation team is that it is used on
behaviors that ―the district did not consider problematic for a student that they had placed at JRC
(i.e. getting out of seat, nagging).‖ 113 Indeed, the NYSED evaluators found that:
Many of the students observed at JRC were not exhibiting self-abusive/mutilating
behaviors, and their IEP‟s had no indication that these behaviors existed. However,
they were still subject to Level III aversive interventions, including the use of the GED
device. The review of the NYS students‟ records revealed that Level III interventions
are used for behaviors including „refuse to follow staff directions‟; „failure to maintain
a neat appearance‟, „stopping work for more than 10 seconds‟, „interrupting others‟,
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