BOSTON - Controversy has dogged the Judge Rotenberg Education Center since it opened in 1971 because of its use of physical punishment, or aversive therapy, on students. Critics have long maintained that the use of skin shocks and food deprivation are inhumane and potentially abusive.

Spring Creek Lodge Academy, a specialty boarding school in Thompson Falls, Mont., (SCLA) today announced its withdrawal from the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS).