Tobinworld (founded in 1977 as the Behavior Research Institute of California) was a

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

n school for children with

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

and

emotional disorder Emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD; also known as behavioral and emotional disorders) refer to a disability classification used in educational settings that allows educational institutions to provide special education and related services to ...

s. The school consisted of three campuses: Tobinworld I, Tobinworld II, and Tobinworld III. It was founded by Judy Weber-Israel, the wife of

Matthew Israel Matthew Israel is an American behavioral psychologist who is known for founding the Judge Rotenberg Center and inventing the Graduated Electronic Decelerator. As a freshman in college, Israel read B. F. Skinner's novel, ''Walden Two'', in which th ...

, as a sister school to the

Judge Rotenberg Center The Judge Rotenberg Center (founded in 1971 as the Behavior Research Institute) is an institution in Canton, Massachusetts, United States, for people with developmental disabilities, emotional disorders, and autistic-like behaviors. The center ...

, which has been condemned by the United Nations for torture of its students. The school shut down in 2019. Tobinworld used the methods of

applied behavior analysis Applied behavior analysis (ABA), also called behavioral engineering, is a psychological intervention that applies empirical approaches based upon the principles of respondent and operant conditioning to change behavior of social significance. ...

and

discrete trial training Discrete trial training (DTT) is a technique used by practitioners of applied behavior analysis (ABA) that was developed by Ivar Lovaas at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). DTT uses direct instruction and reinforcers to create clea ...

to modify behavior in students. In 1991, an employee of Tobinworld pleaded no contest on charges of child abuse against a nine-year old boy who was a student at the school. The child stopped breathing, and was admitted to the hospital in critical condition with possible brain damage. In 2016, police arrested a teacher's aid who was caught on video slapping a nine-year old boy while two other staff held him in the air by the arms and legs. The video was recorded by an employee of the school, who posted it to

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. A friend of the employee then reported it to the police, saying “This is the third time this kind of thing has been recorded by him. It was so unbearable to watch, I had to do something about it.” The event prompted the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

, Disability Rights California, and the

Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), located in Berkeley, California, and Washington, DC, USA is a national cross-disability civil rights law and policy center directed by individuals with disabilities and parents who have chi ...

to issue a demand that the California Department of Education take action against the improper use of force on students with disabilities in Californian schools. In 2014, the mother of a seven-year old student filed a complaint against the school, alleging that the school had a "culture of abuse". The lawsuit further alleged that the school's vice principal and four other staff members had restrained her son and then kicked his feet out from under him. When he fell, bloodying his nose, staff wrapped a plastic bag around his face, causing him to choke on his own blood. The lawsuit prompted an investigation of the school, in which it was discovered that Matthew Israel was working there without proper credentials. The state declared that the school had failed to properly vet and screen employees, and suspended the credentials of Tobinworld I and Tobinworld II, as well as the intake of new students. Tobinworld II closed down in 2016 after local school districts withdrew funding and removed their students from the school, citing concerns about Matthew Israel and the physical abuse of students. Judy Weber-Israel claimed the school had been the victim of a false narrative by the media.

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Special education in the United States Schools in Los Angeles County, California Private schools in California Education in Glendale, California Antioch, California Defunct schools in California School violence 1977 establishments in California