Tell The FDA to Stop The Torture of Disabled Individuals, NOW!

Disabled individuals make up the largest minority on earth, and yet, the discrimination towards them is not spoken about nearly enough.

Something terrible is happening. Children and adults living with various disabilities are being brutally tortured by harmful electric shock at the Judge Rotenberg Center, an institution in Massachusetts.

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) explains the heartbreaking situation on their website:

"The Judge Rotenberg Center tortures some of the people living there using an electric shock device called a Gradual Electronic Decelerator (GED). Children and adults at the JRC are forced to wear the GED on their bodies. Using a remote control, someone else can use the GED to give an electric shock to the person wearing it. The JRC uses the GED as an "aversive:" they use the pain of the electric shock to punish people for doing certain things. On April 24, 2014, the The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the government organization in the United States that decides what kinds of medical treatments can be used on people, held a hearing that led them to conclude that there is no way to use the GED without significant harm, and recommended a ban. Since then, they have drafted final regulations which would ban the use of electric shock devices as aversives. In December 2018, the FDA released their Unified Agenda, which said that they were working on finalizing the rule.
Over the past 5 years, your advocacy has been crucial to making it this far. You have talked with your elected officials, attended protests, sent letters, signed petitions, and spread the word on social media. We are so close to ensuring that no more disabled people are tortured with the GED at the Judge Rotenberg Center. But the FDA still hasn't put the ban into action.On April 24, 2019, it will be 5 years since the FDA held their original hearing."

We need YOUR help to put a stop to this torture once and for all. Show your support by signing this petition and letting the world know why you feel strongly about this issue.

You can also stand up for this cause by:

- Taking a selfie of all the places you are waiting to #StopTheShock, and posting your photos on social media.
- Make a post on social media with information about the JRC, the GED, and how #WeAreStillWaiting for the FDA to #StopTheShock.
- Call or send an email to the FDA and let them know that #WeAreStillWaiting for them to #StopTheShock.
- Call or email your Congresspeople asking them to send a letter to the FDA to encourage them to release the rule.
- Organize a "wait-in" on April 24th to show that #WeAreStillWaiting to #StopTheShock! This can be anything from setting up an information table in a public place to hosting a letter-writing event, making a poster or art display in a high-traffic area, or asking people passing by to take a selfie and spread the word.
- Write an op-ed or letter to the editor for your local newspaper letting your neighborhood know why it is so important to #StopTheShock.
- Hold a virtual wait-in! Get a group of people together and livestream your calls, letters, and anything else you are doing to #StopTheShock. You could even organize a large social media campaign!

For resources to help you in your fight against the JRC, visit https://autisticadvocacy.org/stoptheshock/

Thank you so much for your support, I know that together, we can #StopTheShock forever and liberate these individuals from the trauma they are experiencing.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to contact me at kcot961@gmail.com.