About
Judge Rotenberg Center is a day and residential special-education school in Canton, Massachusetts. The center's official website says it has operated since 1971 and serves students with emotional, behavioral, psychiatric, intellectual, and autism-related disabilities.
The institution was originally founded by Matthew Israel as the Behavior Research Institute and later took the Judge Rotenberg Center name. It is one of the most widely debated disability-service institutions in the United States because of its use of electrical stimulation devices as aversive behavioral interventions.
Federal regulators and disability-rights organizations have repeatedly challenged the use of these devices. In 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration again proposed banning electrical stimulation devices used for self-injurious or aggressive behavior, citing risks of physical and psychological harm.