Usenet Newsgroups [ADVOC] NYS Petition to Revoke "Emergency" Aversives Regulations From: admin_nospam@tourettesyndrome.net (Leslie E. Packer, PhD) [Note:  this is crossposted to relevant groups, but please delete groups when responding to avoid typical usenet crossposted flamewars...] There is now a petition available to urge the Board of Regents and the NYS Education Department to immediately revoke the "emergency" regulations that they enacted on June 23rd.   Signed petitions must be received by them by August 28.  The Board of Regents will be voting at their Sept. meeting as to whether to make the regulations permanent or not. If you would like to sign a petition to get the new "Aversives" regulations withdrawn, you can find a petition in .pdf format or in ..doc format at: Once you've completed it,  mail it to your nearest Regent. You can find your Regent's mailing address online at:   You can also send your petition by email to your state legislators;  their addresses can be found by plugging your zip code into the form at , If you can't send mail to your regent, then at least call them and tell them you are a constituent and that you oppose the new regulations and want them revoked. The Board and NYSED are holding public hearings for members of the public to submit testimony and input.  Information on how to submit feedback and the schedule for public hearings is at: If you do sign and send a petition, please send a copy or an email to petition[at]transparencyinpubliceducation.org so that the coalition can get some sense of how many people are contacting the regents on this. Your emails will not be shared with others without your express written consent and you will not be contacted by the coalition unless you specifically request to be put on a notification or mailing list. BACKGROUND: These "emergency" regulations, while appearing to prohibit the use of "aversive behavioral interventions" -- such as electric skin shock, ammonia sprays, hot pepper sauce on children's tongues -- actually now open the door for every public school, preschool, state-approved private school, and BOCES facility to use these methods on disabled children if they obtain a waiver to do so.  The procedure for obtaining a waiver is that the district basically asks itself and the state, "Can we do this?" and then decides whether it can or can't, regardless of the advice of the state.  I Pictures of People">kid you not. The new regulations also weaken the prohibitions against corporal punishment, and allow teachers to use physical force on a child to protect school property even if it is of little economic value, like a crayon. The regulations are available online at: If you would prefer to download them in pdf format, you can download a copy from: Subject  [ADVOC] NYS Petition to Revoke "Emergency" Aversiv  Re: NYS Petition to Revoke "Emergency" Aversives Regul