Parents want cattle prod used on son
‘Fran Bernstein wants what is best for her severely autistic, 48-year-old son.
So do those operating the Chicago group home where Bradley Bernstein lives.
But they disagree on what is the best way to respond when the stockily built Bradley begins a violent outburst.
His mother has long relied upon a small jolt from a cattle prod to calm her son down.
But disability advocacy groups, as well as the company running Bradley’s group home, Trinity Services, are shunning the shock punishments, which state legislators outlawed last year. [..]
“Most of the time, if he starts acting up and beating his head, we just show it to him and that’s sufficient,” Fran Bernstein said. “We had a judge sign an order saying it was OK to do with proper care, to let him live a decent life. The whole point of doing this was to protect him.”‘
