In doing a search of news stories on the Judge Rotenberg Center, formerly Behavior Research Institute to support the application of Phil Campbell and Mary Cerreto for Director & Deputy Director of the California Department of Developmental Services, a chilling and troubling chronology soon emerged that covers almost 20 years. This is long, but I feel it must be shared. This is dedicated to the memory of Herb Lovett and Linda Cornelison

PARENTS FIGHT STATE OVER R. I. AUTISM CENTER
12/01/80
Two years ago, Shirley and Robert Cooper enrolled their son Bobby in the Behavior Research Institute (BRI) here, a controversial residential school and treatment center for children, adolescents and adults with severe behavior disorders. Bobby Cooper suffered from birth from autism, a severe form of mental illness characterized by self-abusive behavior that grew worse as he grew older.

ELEVEN TROUBLING CHILDREN
12/23/80
The dispute over 11 autistic Massachusetts children at the Behavioral Research Institute is a troubling one that goes far beyond the children themselves - and even beyond the half-million dollars their care could cost each year. It involves questions about the proper treatment for an imperfectly understood neurological affliction, questions about the reasonable goals of such treatment, and questions about the futures of many young people now in state care.

PUTTING SKINNER'S BEHAVIORISM TO WORK
B.F. SKINNER'S THEORIES OF BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION HAVE FOR YEARS GENERATED A CENTRAL CONTROVERSY:
WHAT IS MORE EFFECTIVE - A SYSTEM OF REWARDING GOOD BEHAVIOR OR PUNISHING BAD BEHAVIOR?
TWO PROGRAMS, ONE IN MASSACHUSETTS AND ONE IN RHODE ISLAND, HAVE CONFLICTING THEORIES.
07/12/81
It is usually the second generation that carries out a revolution. Marx would not have known which end of a rifle was which, and Copernicus was always on good terms with the Church. The first generation in behavioral psychology is B. F. Skinner, professor emeritus of psychology and social relations at Harvard. The second includes Vincent Strully, a founder of Efficacy Research Institute (ERI) of Framingham and Taunton, and Matthew L. Israel, founder of Behavior Research Institute (BRI)

PARENTS WANT MASS. PATIENTS OUT OF CONTROVERSIAL AUTISM HOME
08/21/85
A month after the death of an autistic New York man at a group home in Seekonk, two activist parents are calling on state officials to withdraw Massachusetts patients from the controversial treatment program.
The death of 22-year-old Vincent Milletich at a home run by the Providence- based Behavior Research Institute has also touched off new debate on the ''aversive therapy" methods used there to change bizarre behavior in their severely disturbed patients.

NEW DISCLOSURES ON AUTISM CENTER
MASS. SPEEDS PROBE AFTER LEARNING OF OTHER CONTROVERSIES AT R.I.-BASED FACILITY
09/11/85
New revelations about past controversies involving a Rhode Island-based center for autistic children have prompted Massachusetts officials to speed up their probe of the facility, where the state currently places 18 severely disturbed clients.
Officials of the Massachusetts agencies recently learned that the Behavior Research Institute has had problems elsewhere.

STATE SUSPENDS LICENSES OF PROGRAM FOR AUTISTIC
09/27/85
The state Office for Children issued an emergency order yesterday suspending the licenses of seven group homes for the autistic in southeastern Massachusetts and ordering them to stop using physical punishment in their controversial treatment program.
Citing the schools for using the treatment in "excessive and totally unacceptable ways," the state notified Behavior Research Institute, the Providence-based operator of the group homes, that its license would be suspended on Oct. 15

PARENTS PROTEST DECISION TO HALT A CONTROVERSIAL
PROGRAM FOR AUTISTIC YOUTH
10/01/85
Parents of clients enrolled at a controversial program for autistic youth yesterday strongly objected to a decision by the Massachusetts Office for Children to close the Providence-based Behavior Research Institute on Oct. 15.
Families from New York and New Jersey flew to Boston yesterday to attend a meeting called by Mary Kay Leonard, director of the Office for Children, to tell them how recent inspections revealed "excessive" violations of state regulations for protection of children

MAGISTRATE TOLD OF AUTISM CENTER'S TREATMENT
10/09/85
Handcuffed children at the Behavior Research Institute in Providence were forced to stand barefoot on a ridged rubber mat and inhale ammonia while buckets of chilled water were dumped on them, an Office for Children licensing specialist told a state magistrate yesterday.
Testifying at the opening session of an appeal hearing, Michael Avery said he spent half an hour undergoing some of the aversive therapies used at the facility for autistic youths before submitting a report on the facility

JUDGE BACKS PLAN TO CLOSE SCHOOL FOR AUTISTIC
10/10/85
US District Judge Joseph L. Tauro Jr. yesterday refused to block an Office for Children decision to close a school for autistic youths next Tuesday.
Asserting that the stage agency has been "vigilant" in monitoring treatment procedures at the Behavior Research Institute, based in Providence, R.I., Tauro said he would not intervene so long as other administrative procedures are available to parents protesting suspension of the institute's license.

PARENTS DEFEND PROGRAM FOR AUTISTIC SON
10/13/85
Until their autistic son was accepted at the Behavior Research Institute of Providence at the age of 12, there were times when he broke kitchen and bathroom cabinet padlocks to swallow lye, bleach, perfume and shampoo.
Now, after seven years at the school, Maureen and Peter Biscardi of Burlington say that P.J. has learned to eat only the contents of a cup or dish and no longer breaks furniture, bangs his head on the walls or bites his hands until the skin is raw.

PSYCHOLOGIST B. F. SKINNER COMES TO DEFENSE OF AUTISTIC CENTER LEADER
10/17/85
B.F. Skinner, considered the father of behavioral psychology in the United States, yesterday came to the defense of a former pupil whose treatment center for autistic children is being closed by Massachusetts officials because of its use of punishment or "aversive" techniques to control behavior.
Skinner, in a telephone interview, said punishment to quell the destructive acts of severely disturbed clients may be effective in cases where other treatments fail.

WOMAN SAYS SCHOOL PUNISHMENTS HELPED AUTISTIC DAUGHTER
10/18/85
More than 1,000 pinches, squeezes, spanks and sprayings, used over a two- day period at the Behavior Research Institute, reduced her 19-year-old autistic daughter's uncontrollable head-banging, a New Jersey woman told a hearing yesterday.
"The treatment didn't faze me at all. As a result of the treatment, she now responds to being told 'no.' She does not show fear of the staff," Patricia H. Bogner of Trenton told Magistrate Joan Fink on the final day of an appeal by the institute to stop a

PARENTS IN CONFRONTATION OVER PLANS TO SHUT AUTISM CENTER'S GROUP
HOMES
10/23/85
Two gatherings of families who have struggled with the problems of raising autistic children clashed yesterday over Massachusetts plans to close group homes of a controversial treatment center based in Providence.
The confrontation came at a crowded Boston press conference called by ''parent advocates" supporting the Office for Children's effort to close the Behavior Research Institute's seven group homes in Massachusetts. The shutdown advocates were challenged and finally displaced in a

AUTISM SCHOOL GETS A GO-AHEAD FOR NOW
10/24/85
An administrative law judge ruled yesterday that a controversial Providence-based school for autistic youths may stay open pending further hearings.
Acting on the appeal of an Office for Children emergency order, Magistrate Joan Fink found "there is currently no danger to the life, health and safety of students at the Behavior Research Institute." The state agency had sought to close the facility on grounds that its treatments are abusive.

AUTISTIC CHILDREN'S NEEDS
10/25/85
Of all the young people in the care of this state, the plight of those afflicted with the mysterious disease of autism compels a high degree of concern and sympathy, for locked within these young people is the urge to destroy themselves.
Fortunately, there are few autistic children, and even fewer whose urge is so uncontrollable that they cannot respond to the conventional therapy of kindness and rewards. Some of these extreme cases are cared for at the Behavior Research Institute, which o

MASS. TO PULL CLIENTS FROM AUTISM SCHOOL
10/25/85
All Massachusetts clients will be removed as soon as possible from a controversial Providence-based school and treatment center for autistic people, the director of the Massachusetts Office for Children said yesterday.
Mary Kay Leonard announced her decision to remove the clients one day after a magistrate recommended that an emergency order to suspend the Behavior Research Institute's license today be delayed pending a full hearing.

PROSECUTOR BEGINS PROBE IN DEATH OF AUTISTIC MAN
10/26/85
A county prosecutor yesterday launched a criminal investigation into the death of Vincent Milletich, an autistic man who died after undergoing controversial punishment therapy at a Seekonk group home.
The announcement by Bristol County District Attorney Ronald Pina came one day after the release of an autopsy report by the Rhode Island deputy medical examiner, who after a three-month study concluded it was impossible to determine what triggered the death.

HEAD OF AUTISM CENTER SEEKS RECOMMENDATIONS
11/19/85
The director of a controversial center for autistic youths has asked specialists to review his program and recommend alternatives to treatments deemed by the state to be abusive.
Dr. Matthew L. Israel, director of the Rhode Island-based Behavior Research Institute, said he was seeking help from all possible sources because half the clients in the program have severely regressed since a ban on using physical punishments in treatment programs was issued by the Massachusetts Office for Children

TASK FORCE APPOINTED ON TREATMENT FOR AUTISTIC
11/27/85
Following widespread controversy over treatment methods at a Providence- based center for autistic young people, Massachusetts officials said yesterday they have appointed a task force to find out what kind of treatment autistic children and adults receive in Massachusetts and elsewhere.
"We want to assure parents of clients now at the Behavior Research Institute that no one will be dumped into inappropriate programs," Philip W. Johnston, state Human Services secretary, said in an interview

PSYCHOLOGIST TO OFFER OTHER WAYS TO DEAL WITH CENTER'S AUTISTIC CLIENTS
12/08/85
Seeking an alternative to controversial therapy used at a Rhode Island treatment center for autistic patients, Massachusetts officials have hired a California psychologist to recommend other strategies for dealing with the self-abusive and aggressive behavior of the center's clients.
Dr. Gary Lavigna of Los Angeles said last week he will evaluate Massachusetts clients at the Providence-based Behavior Research Institute and seek to prescribe treatments that don't use physical punishments

AVERSIVE THERAPY FOR ONE AUTISTIC PATIENT ORDERED RESTORED BY
MASS. PROBATE JUDGE
12/19/85
The behavior modification program said to have kept a 15-year old autistic girl from hurting herself at a Rhode Island-based treatment center was restored yesterday by the action of a Massachusetts probate court judge.
Judge Ernest I. Rotenberg ordered restoration of aversive therapy for the New York girl following an agreement between her parents, whom he appointed as her guardians, the attorneys for six parties in the case and the Massachusetts Office for Children.

AUTISM CENTER WILL APPEAL RULING TO ALLOW EXAMINATION
12/27/85
A lawyer for the Behavior Research Institute said he will appeal the decision of a Massachusetts Superior Court judge to allow a California psychologist hired by the Department of Mental Health to examine clients at the controversial facility.
Eric MacLeish, attorney for the Providence-based institute for autistic youth, said he will appeal a ruling by Judge Herbert Abrams last Monday permitting Gary LaVigna, a Los Angeles behavioral expert, to carry out his assignment.

AUTISM CENTER'S THERAPY BAN MODIFIED INSTITUE MAY REQUEST PERMISSION TO USE AVERSIVE TREATMENT ON SOME CLIENTS
12/31/85
The Massachusetts Office for Children said yesterday it may be willing to
allow "aversive therapy" to be resumed for certain autistic clients of a controversial Providence-based treatment center.
Under an agreement that modifies the Office's earlier ban on physical punishment as part of a behavior modification program, the Behavior Research Institute will be able to request permission to use "unusual or extraordinary" treatments under new regulations governing such procedures, official

PARENTS OF AUTISTIC STUDENTS APPEAL TO JUDGE
02/01/86
The parents of five autistic students at the Behavior Research Institute yesterday asked a Massachusetts judge to reinstate a physical punishment program banned by the state Office for Children.
The students, ages 18 to 28, have reverted to self-injurious behavior since use of "aversive therapy" was stopped at the school in September, according to an attorney for the institute.

QUESTIONS REMAIN ON AVERSIVE THERAPY FOR THE AUTISTIC
02/16/86
Tall, husky Wayne managed a handshake with a visitor to the Behavior Research Institute classroom where he was sorting plastic chips Friday afternoon.
Ten minutes later, the 23-year old autistic man was on the floor, struggling with a teacher who was able to wrestle him back to his seat to begin work on his tasks once more.

SEVERELY AFFLICTED CHILDREN'S CARE
06/13/86
In ruling that autistic youths at the Behavior Research Institute may receive physical-punishment therapy, the Bristol County Probate Court has made a difficult decision, but one that is in the best interests of the severely disturbed young people and their anguished families.
The ruling by Judge Ernest Rotenberg overrules actions taken by the Massachusetts Office for Children. Governor Dukakis should now come forward and advise agency director Mary Kay Leonard to drop any further legal ma

LAWSUIT IS FILED BY AUTISTIC CENTER
08/09/86
The Behavior Research Institute, a Providence-based school that uses punishment therapy to treat severely autistic children, has filed a $15.4 million lawsuit against the director of the Massachusetts Office for Children. The institute, which has Massachusetts residents among its clients, alleges that Mary Kay Leonard violated the rights of students and parents by attempting to shut down the school last September. The suit was filed Wednesday in Bristol County Probate Court, and seeks $13.4 million on be

ACCORD PERMITS SCHOOL TO USE AVERSIVE THERAPY
12/13/86
The Massachusetts Office for Children and the Behavior Research Institute reached a tentative agreement yesterday that will allow the Providence-based school for autistic children to remain open and continue to use a controversial program of physical punishment as treatment.
The agreement came after nearly two weeks of negotiations to avert a trial that had been scheduled to begin Dec. 1 on the parents' motion for a permanent injunction against the Office for Children and a $1

AUTISTIC CHILDREN'S NEEDS
12/16/86
The Massachusetts Office for Children's 15-month-long vendetta against a school for autistic children has ended in a victory for the school -- and for the autistic children and their parents.
The only thing that state bureaucrats won in the negotiated settlement with Behavior Research Institute is an agreement that the Bristol County Probate Court will continue to monitor the school and its use of "aversive" therapy. Considering that the court and Judge Ernest Rotenberg have shown more und
JUDGE CITES NEGLIGENCE BY DIRECTOR
OF SCHOOL IN AUTISTIC MAN'S DEATH
01/08/87
The director of a beleaguered school for severely autistic teen-agers and young adults was negligent in the death of a student who collapsed after being bombarded with static-like noise, a judge said yesterday.
But District Court Judge Paul E. Ryan said in a report that no charges should be filed against Matthew Israel, director of Behavior Research Institute Inc., because there was no evidence the treatment caused the death.

CONTROVERSY EXPECTED OVER NEW BILL TO BAN AVERSIVE THERAPY
02/19/87
Controversy over treatments that use physical punishment to change the behavior of severely autistic children is likely to be renewed as mental health and legal advocates push for passage of a bill that would ban all so- called aversive therapy programs.
Filed by the Developmental Disabilities Law Center, the bill represents the latest attempt to outlaw aversive therapy since the state agreed this winter to allow the Behavioral Research Institute of Providence to continue using the treatme

LEGISLATING THERAPY
04/21/87
Opponents of the program for autistic children at Behavior Research Institute, blocked by the courts from pursuing a 15-month-long administrative vendetta, have now turned to the Massachusetts Legislature in a misguided effort to close it down.
Last December Bristol County Probate Judge Ernest Rotenberg ruled against the Massachusetts Office for Children and in favor of the Providence-based school. With that ruling, it appeared that autistic children had won the right to continue receivi

COURT TO REVIEW AVERSIVE THERAPY AT R.I. SCHOOL FOR AUTISTIC
CHILDREN
06/21/87
The controversial question of whether a Providence school will be able to continue to use physical punishment as a means of treating autistic children will be re-examined tomorrow in a Bristol County courtroom.
A year ago, a judge accused the director of the Massachusetts Office for Children of playing Russian roulette with the lives of autistic children by trying to close the school and ban its use of a controversial treatment of physical punishments.

AUTISTIC STUDENT DIES AFTER CARDIAC ARREST AUTOPSY DUE ON BRI GROUP-HOME RESIDENT
06/26/87
A 29-year-old autistic student at the Behavior Research Institute who suffered cardiac arrest in her sleep earlier this week died yesterday without regaining consciousness.
Abigail Gibson of Hillsdale, N.Y., was pronounced dead at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro at 4:35 p.m. yesterday, according to nursing supervisor Arleen Waldron. She had been on a respirator since early Tuesday when she was found lying on her bed at a BRI-operated group home in Attleboro and taken to the hospital

HOUSE VOTES TO ELIMINATE 'AVERSIVE THERAPY'
06/15/88
By a wide margin, the Massachusetts House voted yesterday to outlaw the controversial practice of "aversive therapy," including spanks, pinches and noxious sprays, for severely handicapped and autistic youngsters.
After an emotional floor debate, the House rejected on a vote of 23-119 an amendment that would have allowed case-by-case exemptions. Moments later, the ban was endorsed on a roll-call vote of 125-12 and sent to the Senate.

AVERSIVE THERAPY IS HEARING TOPIC
03/27/92
Supporters and opponents of aversive therapy for autistic children and adults testified before the Legislature's Human Services Committee yesterday, some praising the painful method of punishment as the only way of controlling
violent behavior, and others denouncing it as cruel and abusive treatment.
At the center of the controversy is Dr. Matthew Israel, founder and director of the Behavior Research Institute, a Providence organization with group homes for mentally retarded people in

FORMER INSTITUTE WORKERS CHARGE CLIENTS ARE OFTEN BEATEN, SHOCKED
10/08/93
Three former employees of the Behavior Research Institute yesterday charged that the center routinely subjects autistic and mentally retarded clients to electric shocks and other punishments for behavior as innocuous as
mumbling.
"I have seen clients shocked, pinched, spanked . . . for not raising their hand before speaking," said Annemarie Millard, a supervisor at BRI's Providence facility from 1987 to 1992.

BEHAVIOR INSTITUTE SLAMS 'EYE TO EYE'
03/01/94
'How desperate would you have to be to allow your child to be punished with electric shocks?" CBS asks in a promotion for its next "Eye to Eye With Connie Chung." But even before the program airs (it's scheduled for Thursday, 9 p.m., Channel 7) the network is getting zapped.
Behavior Research Institute, a Providence-based residential school for students with severe behavior disorders, has countercharged CBS with "bias and prejudgment," in mailings that BRI officials say they have made t

SCHOOL AIMS AT THERAPY CRITICS
EX-WORKERS AT BRI GOT LAWSUIT DRAFTS'
03/23/94
Four former employees of a facility that uses a controversial shock treatment for self-abusive students received "draft" libel lawsuits in the mail from the school's lawyer, a not-so-subtle message that their criticism was not appreciated.
The "draft" lawsuits, which have not been filed in court, were just one of several tactics two ex-employees said were used to intimidate and harass them after they made allegations that their former employer, the Behavior Research Institute, abused some

BRI DEFENDS 5,000-SHOCK THERAPY
PRESIDENT SAYS STUDENT GIVEN THEM IN ONE DAY TO SAVE HIS LIFE
04/28/94
A student at the Behavior Research Institute, a controversial school treating severely self-abusive and autistic students, received more than 5,000 electric shocks in one day at the facility, according to a school official and former employees.
Dr. Matthew Israel, BRI president, confirmed the number of shocks yesterday in response to allegations made by two former employees at the Providence school.

SCHOOL THAT USES SHOCK THERAPY PLANS NEW PROGRAMS, NAME CHANGE
07/01/94
A controversial school that uses electric shock punishment for students with behaviorial problems is planning an overhaul with an eye toward improving its public image, including a name change and the start of additional programs that do not use painful techniques.
The Behavior Research Institute, which has been the subject of widespread media scrutiny and numerous court actions, is also proposing to move its headquarters to Norwood or Canton from Rhode Island, consolidating all of its ope

EMBATTLED BRI RECEIVES ONLY CONDITIONAL CERTIFICATION
01/21/95
The Behavior Research Institute, now operating as the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center, received only a conditional recertification from the Department of Mental Retardation yesterday after it failed to meet requirements set by the department, according to DMR director of communications Gerald Ryan.
In a six-month study, DMR found that Level III treatments, such as shock therapy, were used for minor behavior problems such as laughing and staring. The center treats 55 severly autistic an

STATE ORDERS SCHOOL TO END SHOCK PUNISHMENT FOR AUTISTIC STUDENTS
03/24/95
The state has ordered a controversial school for severely mentally retarded and autistic students to stop using electric shock as a punishment for students who engage in dangerous behaviors.
The order is the latest salvo in a longstanding and bitter dispute between the Department of Mental Retardation and the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center Inc., a Providence-based school formerly known as the Behavior Research Institute.

SJC CALLED TO REVIEW HANDLING OF BRI CASE
03/30/95
An independent state agency has recommended that the state Supreme Judicial Court review court monitoring of the former Behavior Research Institute, following an investigation into alleged abuse of students.
The Disabled Persons Protection Commission reported yesterday that it was unable to substantiate three out of four allegations of abuse since 1989 at BRI, now operating as the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center in Providence.

JUDGE RAPS STATE AGENCY IN TREATMENT CENTER CASE
10/11/95
A probate court judge yesterday accused the state Department of Mental Retardation of a staggering abuse of governmental power, concluding in a 126- page ruling that the agency's commissioner tried to illegally shut down a controversial treatment center and then lied on the witness stand about his actions.
Calling it a "sad chapter" in Massachusetts history, Judge Elizabeth LaStaiti ordered the state to pay the Judge Rotenberg Center $1.1 million for legal fees and asked the Bristol County

SJC RELIEVES AGENCY OF POWER OVER CENTER
03/14/97
The state's highest court yesterday stripped the Department of Mental Retardation of its authority to regulate a treatment center that uses electric shock punishment, citing allegations that top agency officials acted in bad faith and lied to a judge.
The decision by the Supreme Judicial Court upheld a lower court ruling that accused DMR officials of abusing their power in an attempt to illegally close down the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center Inc. in Canton -- and then lying in court about thei

CAMPBELL QUITS DMR POST
RESIGNATION PLEASES PATIENTS ADVOCATES
03/15/97
Embattled state Department of Mental Retardation Commissioner Philip Campbell resigned yesterday, one day after the state's highest court concluded that department officials tried to coerce a treatment center into closing.
Campbell, who took over the post in 1991, handed in his resignation to Governor William F. Weld after he was called upon by Weld to discuss the court opinion. Weld said he asked for the meeting when he was only a third of the way through reading the decision.

STATE PAYS $1.5M, SETTLES CIVIL RIGHTS SUIT
FACILITY SAYS EX-DMR OFFICIALS ABUSED POWER
12/23/97
The state has quietly paid $1.5 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit charging former Department of Mental Retardation commissioner Philip Campbell and a top aide with grossly abusing regulatory power in an attempt to shut down a treatment center that uses electric shock therapy.
The suit alleged that Campbell and his legal counsel, Kim Murdock, ``abused governmental power and exploited state resources'' trying to close the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center in Canton.

YOUTH DIES AFTER APPARENT JUMP FROM MOVING BUS
05/07/98
A 16-year-old boy who attended a school for adolescents with behavioral problems died yesterday after apparently bolting out the rear door of a fast-moving school bus on Interstate 95 in North Attleborough.
State Police and the Bristol County district attorney's office were investigating the death of Silverio Gonzalez. An autopsy is scheduled for today.

NEIGHBORS ORGANIZING IN NORTON FOLLOWING ESCAPE FROM GROUP HOME
08/16/98
A juvenile crawls through a bathroom window and runs away from a group home for severely emotionally disturbed youths. Police fan out in a search while neighbors worry for their safety.
In Norton, this happened when a 15-year-old resident left a home operated by the Canton-based Judge Rotenberg Center on May 30.

LEGISLATORS PUSHING BILL TO BAN SHOCK TREATMENTS ON CHILDREN
03/11/99
A center that treats emotionally disturbed youths is the target of legislation that would ban behavioral shock treatment.
Supporters of the bill said it is inhumane to shock disturbed children by a remote control when they misbehave.

Bill Coffelt, President The Oaks Group
Governor Gray Davis
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone (916) 445-2841
Fax (916) 445-4633
Attn: Dario Frommer, Appointments Secretary