Visionary Solutions Newsletter! #2
- michaelbeattie8
- Jul 13
- 3 min read
FDA May Finally Make It Illegal to Shock Autistic Kids as Punishment, (Mother Jones, April 27, 2026)
For decades, electric shock devices have been used against those with mental disabilities -such as schizophrenia or autism- to discipline over aggressive behavior or incorrect responses. The claimed justification was that it helped calm symptoms of intellectual and developmental issues with pattern recognition, but according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), this claim has no supporting evidence and is in fact proven to encourage the opposite. Negative side effects of involuntary shock therapy include but are not limited to: depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, increased aggressive behavior, and physical injuries such as burns, tissue damage, or even death.
The FDA previously banned this practice back in 2020, but was then overruled by federal appeals due to uncertainty of the agency to institute the ban. Another ban was introduced in 2022 by the House of Representatives with it never clearing the Senate. All hope seemed lost up until March of 2024, when former president Joe Biden introduced a potential new ban on electric shock therapy, but the process was stunted by Donal Trump’s Second Presidency due to uncertainty of FDA leadership. Finally, as of April 27th 2026, the FDA announced that a decision will be made to determine a new revised rule on electric shock therapy within the next few weeks, in hopes of it being approved by the President. The revised rule would not ban electric shock therapy overall, such as to help people quit addictive smoking habits, but rather specifically to use against intellectually-disabled individuals against their will.
Read full story here: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/fda-electric-shock-disabled-autistic-children-punishment/
ICE released elderly man with cognitive impairments who was lost in Denver for hours, immigration advocates say (The Denver Post, May 12th, 2026)
On the morning of May 11th, William Ortiz-Rivera was released from an Immigration Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado after several demands from the local immigration rights group, Casa de Paz. However, it was reported that his release was not notified by his attorney or Casa de Paz, and became lost for about 5 hours after hopping on a bus that took him miles away to downtown Denver. William Ortiz-Rivera is a Latino man in his 70s with cognitive impairments, and was detained by ICE agents for his previous arrests for burglary and drug possession despite the charges being from the 1980s. Fortunately, he was found by Casa de Paz and his caregivers near the intersection of Stout Street and Broadway, wandering around in 83-degree weather.
Since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, there has been a rise of crackdowns and activity by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE). The crackdowns have been criticized for poor treatment against detainees regardless of criminal background or citizenship status. This seems especially so when it comes to older and/or disabled detainees, as now Ortiz-Rivera is at risk of losing his senior living housing prior to being detained by ICE. Andrea Loya, Executive Director of Casa de Paz, referred to this incident as inhumane, stating that “We are typically notified when vulnerable individuals, such as Ortiz-Rivera, are released…we demand that ICE use the resources that are available to them and the community so that we can ensure the safety of those released from custody.”
Comments