After years of controversy surrounding a Massachusetts school that administers electric shocks to people with developmental disabilities, the state is taking steps to restrict the practice.

The Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, Mass. is believed to be the only school in the country to regularly use electric shock to control students’ behavior.

For years, disability advocates have criticized the practice arguing that it is inhumane and even torturous. But many parents and former students have praised the school for accepting students that no one else would and using a treatment approach that they say is effective.

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Now Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick wants to put a stop to the shock therapy. In a recent executive order he called on the state’s Department of Developmental Services to regulate the practice.

Under the agency’s proposed regulations, shock therapy would be prohibited for new students and enhanced protections would apply for students who are already in the program, reports The (Quincy, Mass.) Patriot Ledger. To read more click here.

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