Tag: Judge Rotenberg Center

Is there an Autism Industrial Complex? Interview with Professor Alicia Broderick

~ a4aontario ~ 4 Comments

front cover of a book. Dark blue cover with words "THE AUTISM INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX: HOW BRANDING, MARKETING & CAPITAL INVESTMENT TURNED AUTISM INTO BIG BUSINESS  My guest this episode is Alicia Broderick, author of the new book The Autism Industrial Complex:  How Branding, Marketing, and Capital Investment Turned Autism Into Big Business. Her book traces the cultural, political, and economic history of autism. We talk about the history of autism services, how industry greed often gets in the way of useful approaches that can help families and some advice for families of newly diagnosed kids on how to find the best approaches and sift through all the hype.

Listen to the podcast by pressing Play on the audio file below. Also available on Spotify, Stitcher or iTunes.
Read the transcript at the link below the audio file
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Transcript by Julie-Ann Lee: Podcast_Transcript_0722_Broderick_Borden

Bio
Alicia Broderick is a Professor of Education at Montclair State University in New Jersey.

Links mentioned in the podcast

The Autism Industrial Complex:  How Branding, Marketing, and Capital Investment Turned Autism Into Big Business, by Alicia Broderick

Screams, Slaps and Love (Lovaas interviewed in Life Magazine).

Affirming resources for families

Start Here: A Guide for Parents of Autistic Kids, by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (book & e-book)

Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism (website)

Uniquely Human, by Barry Prizant (book)

Neurotribes, by Steve Silberman (book

“We don’t even need to reinvent the wheel: the wheel’s there”: Interview with Cal Montgomery

~ a4aontario

Cal photo

I spoke with human rights activist Cal Montgomery, a survivor of residential institutions and, after institutionalization. Cal describes how the institutional model is replicated in group home settings, even when they have a veneer of independent living. As he observes: “It’s really not that hard to take a program that looks like it supports self-determination and make it all about control. And we see it done every day.”

We talked about the Judge Rotenberg Centre (JRC), a residential institution that has been using shock torture on autistic and IDD residents. Despite some of the difficult subject matter of this podcast, I walked away with a feeling of hope, the kind of hope that is given by shedding a light on truth–one of the many gifts that Cal brings to the movement.

Listen to the podcast at the audio link below or on Stitcher here
or on iTunes here

Read the transcript, below the audio file.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Cal_Montgomery_Noncompliant_transcript

Bio
Cal Montgomery is a trans, queer, autistic, physically disabled activist and writer in the United States and a survivor of long-term institutionalization. He is a Director of the Board at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, engages in direct actions and civil disobedience around disability rights issues and is a former member of ADAPT, the US direct-action organization.

Cal is at the forefront of action against the electric shock aversives used at the Judge Rotenberg Center in Massachusetts, which we talk about in the podcast. Cal is probably best known in the neurodiversity community for his essay “Critic of the Dawn”. In it, he writes: “Disability is injustice, not tragedy; unequal treatment, not inherent inequality.” I highly recommend you check out that essay as well as following Cal’s blog, Watch Well: A Blog about Disability.

Links and Sources:
Critic of the Dawn, an essay by Cal Montgomery
Cal’s Blog, Watch Well: A Blog About Disability
Missing Pieces, by Irving Kinsola