🚨 MEMORIAL DAY IN DC: TORTURE IS BEING PROMOTED AS PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

On Memorial Day weekend 2025, the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) will host and promote, during a professional conference in Washington, D.C., where behavior analysts will attend Workshop #193, the use of electric shock on Autistic people as a valid and ethical treatment. The session is titled:

"Contingent Skin Shock (CSS) as a Behavioral Intervention"
Target Audience: Behavior Analysts, Policy-Makers, Clinical Directors
Location: Capital Hilton, Washington D.C., May 25, 2025

This is happening publicly, in our nation's capital, with no warning to the public, on a weekend meant to honor those who died fighting for human rights.

💥 THE GED-4: A DEVICE THAT SHOCKS DISABLED CHILDREN

The Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC) uses a device called the Graduated Electronic Decelerator (GED-4) to deliver electric shocks to autistic and disabled individuals. It is:

  • 41 milliamps of direct current (compared to 18.5 mA for dog collars—banned in over 12 countries)

  • Delivered through up to 5 electrodes attached to the limbs and torso

  • Administered for "behaviors" such as not following instructions, flapping hands, vocalizing, or closing eyes (“non-compliance” = behaviors that occur when resisting coercion - see linked article that shows matching historical responses to being under coercive conditions)

The shocks can be repeated up to 10 times per hour per student. Oversight is inconsistent. In some reported cases, students were shocked 300 times per hour—equivalent to 97% of a police Taser's output.

⚠️ PHYSIOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF SHOCK TREATMENT

Time Physiological Response 0–5 min Adrenaline spikes to 1,200 pg/mL, heart rate hits 180 bpm, blood pressure 220 mmHg 15–30 min Cortisol surges to 50 µg/dL, hippocampal glutamate causes dissociation 60 min Blood glucose crashes to 40 mg/dL (hypoglycemic shock), muscle breakdown leads to rhabdomyolysis

Cumulative Damage (Over 2.77-Year Stay at JRC):

  • 162,000 shocks on average

  • 23% hippocampal volume loss (same as Alzheimer's progression)

  • 12x increased risk of fatal heart rhythm

  • 89% rate of PTSD in recipients

⛔GLOBAL REGULATIONS FOR SHOCK DEVICES

Country Shock Device Regulation Max Penalty France Bans all shock collars (2023) €15,000 + 3 years prison UK Bans remote shock collars (2024) Unlimited fine + 6 months jail Netherlands Prohibits all shock collars €20,000 fine Australia Illegal except fencing $40,000 AUD fine

Yet the U.S. allows 221% stronger devices on children.

🧠 BEHAVIORAL STRATEGIES THAT HIDE ABUSE

Common ABA terms mask violent coercion under euphemistic names:

  • Escape Extinction = Forced Compliance
    Child tries to leave. Therapist blocks them. Or removes access to water/bathroom until they comply.

  • Attention Extinction/Planned Ignoring = Emotional Abandonment
    Child cries or otherwise expresses distress. Therapist deliberately ignores them to reduce behavior.

  • Response Blocking = Physical Restraint
    Therapist uses their body to prevent movement or expression (e.g., stopping hand-flapping).

  • Forced Eye Contact = Sensory Invasion
    Child is required to stare at therapist’s eyes despite physical distress.

These are not hypothetical. They are billable procedures taught in graduate programs, covered by Medicaid, and enforced through licensure and ethics codes.

📉 COMPARATIVE HARMS: ABA vs. CONVERSION THERAPY

See: Linked DOT Response Article under the Accountability Spaces page

"Both made me hate my core self. ABA just called it ‘therapy’ instead of ‘prayer.’" — Survivor

🧬 SUPPRESSION OF TRAITS THAT MAKE US HUMAN

ABA targets the very traits that made historical breakthroughs possible:

See: Linked Article on Harm of Targeting Autistic Traits

Suppressing these traits means suppressing innovation.

✋ ABA AS SYSTEMIC EUGENICS

Autistic survivors of ABA describe long-term harm:

  • "They trained the humanity out of me. Now I 'pass' but need 24/7 care for the void they created."

  • 74% incidence of Dissociative Identity Disorder among long-term ABA/GED survivors

  • Forced compliance increases vulnerability to sexual abuse (see: inability to say no)

The goal isn’t support. It’s obedience. The method isn’t care. It’s control.

📚 CITATIONS & SOURCES

This is not science. It is institutionalized targeting of a vulnerable population.

The public, who is funding this with their taxpayer dollars because of the traceable MANIPULATION by those governing behavior analysts, must be fully informed. Share this. Demand action.

🛑 STOP ABA torture. 🚫 BAN the GED. ✊ LISTEN to autistic survivors (they have whole advocacy networks, where they can and do speak out (88% of Autistics exposed to ABA when they didn’t have a choice, oppose/would dissent to the treatment), when unmuzzled! Search: Autistics Against ABA and LISTEN TO THEM!!!!