Unfortunate story and new information about the "harassment" of patients in a clinic

The publisher of the news post about the abuse of patients in a center provided a newer information and narrative about the center's actions.

According to the social service of Sefir Arjan, the story of eight families about the physical damage of children with stuttering, cerebral palsy and autism in the center under the management of a psychologist has become the focus of attention with the publication of a video post in cyberspace.

An initial post and several subsequent clips published by Atabek Vathoughi, the vice-president of Iran's speech therapy association, contain claims about the way children are treated in the so-called "mind simulation" sessions at the Mind and Ravan clinic, which has caused a wave of reactions. The voice of a girl with cerebral palsy in this video narrates a lot of harassment in that center, where teenagers of her same age, as employees of the center, beat these patients with sticks while turning up the volume of music.

In the main content of the post, Wasuqi, referring to the narratives of the families and his own observations, talked about the beating of children, the use of methods that the families described as violent, and receiving high fees in exchange for promises of definitive treatment. He considered these measures to be in conflict with the professional standards of rehabilitation and occupational therapy and demanded serious follow-up. These claims follow media reports in which families from different cities of the country reported broken bones, bruises, and the return of children crying.

Among the comments below the post, several categories of prominent reactions can be seen. A group of users, sharing similar experiences or supporting the affected families, have demanded the immediate closure of the center and judicial action. Some others have emphasized the lack of scientific support for the "mind simulation" method and have considered it as an illegal intervention. On the other hand, a limited number of comments have either defended the center or called for a more detailed investigation and the presentation of forensic evidence. Iran's Occupational Therapy Scientific Association had previously announced the filing of a complaint in the government penal system and the medical system organization.

If these narratives reflect even a part of the reality, a fundamental question arises: why despite the media reports, the complaint of the specialized association and the numerous narratives of the families, this center continues to operate and the final and transparent investigation has not yet been concluded?

This clinic has been introduced on the relevant website as a knowledge-based center that operates due to the presence of the "inventor of mind simulation" Mojtaba Bigdali Shamlou and the scientific management of Dr. Hamid Kamerzrin.

In this regard, Ambassador Arjan's reporter had a conversation with Atabek Vothoqi, the publisher of the relevant posts and the vice-chairman of the Iran Speech Therapy Association, the results of which you can read.

In an interview with Ambassador Arjan's reporter, Atabek Vothoghi stated that people took advantage of the lack of family information and referred to these methods as therapeutic methods, emphasizing that there are similar problems in all areas of health, but the main problem is not with specialist colleagues; The problem is with people claiming treatment who do not have a treatment license. He says that psychology, which is at the expert level, is not allowed to intervene in these fields at all, but when he sees that he has money-making work, he does these things for a few years and then closes the rain and leaves.

He added: I have known these people for many years, they claim decisive treatment without education and scientific documentation, which is not accepted in the world of science.

Referring to his objective observations about why these centers continue to operate, he says: "In a related court, when the experts came and the court questioned them, they said yes, they can treat autism and stuttering; While the vice president of treatment himself knows that we do not have a definitive treatment." He adds that he was not given a copy of the file so that he could follow up, and when he asked the relevant expert why he wrote such a report, he heard the answer that "You speech therapists and psychologists have problems together!"

Wasthoqi emphasizes that they have no problem with anyone and basically cannot have any; The boundaries of the fields must be specified. He says that the psychology board of the Ministry of Health has given a letter in response to their inquiry that no psychologist can intervene in the field of speech and language.

Regarding this way of dealing with autistic children, he points to the vulnerability of people with stuttering and autism and says: people who stutter cannot easily defend themselves due to psychological problems, stress, anxiety and lack of ability to choose words and speech. Autistic people, even those with verbal abilities, have difficulty narrating traumatic events, and because of this, their testimony is not readily accepted on many levels. This issue has been ongoing.

Voshoqi says that during ten years, these people and the relevant clinic have been asked many times to prove their alleged method in the University of Medical Sciences, the Board of the Ministry of Health, the Deputy Minister of Medicine and the Deputy Minister of Education, but they have not come. Even when they came, he was not in the meeting and they talked a lot without being responsive. According to him, two of these people (Mr. Khatami and Mr. Taghizadeh) have been removed, but Mr. Bigdeli is still active and it is not clear how he managed to continue. He previously thought that Bigdley's license was revoked because, according to him, the medical system voted that he could not work.

He explains why families go to these centers despite these rumors and hadiths that desperate families seek refuge in these people because of false treatment claims. In the fields of rehabilitation, everyone comes and says that I do the definitive treatment of such and such, and many people believe it.

Dr. Vothoqi continues to say about his clinical experience: "I personally was the CEO and founder of Mendan Zeba during these years (26-27 years of clinical work); with Dr. Farhang, Dr. Alizadeh and before that with Dr. Al-Davoud and Rostamabadi. We had so many successful treatments, but we did very little written reports and things like that, because we didn't agree with administrative bureaucracy and writing articles without permission. Our work was clinical work and we thought it was godly. We never took a video and if we did, we didn't publish it; "We only used it in educational courses with the permission of the families."

He also considered the mistakes and errors of some of his less experienced and illiterate colleagues to be effective in that they should take scientific courses so that families do not have to refer to these "fraudulent" people.

Atabaki also explains about the publication of various advertising videos of immediate treatment in the private space, that with different methods one can give a person temporary self-confidence and teach the structured speech that he learned from speech therapists. The person behind the camera speaks based on the same structured speech and his or her disability is minimized; But this does not mean definitive treatment.

In the end, Wasughi informs about his recent follow-up: "I called and talked with the deputy health minister. He said to send the documents so that I can follow up personally.

These statements are made in the context that Iran's Occupational Therapy Scientific Association has announced the filing of a complaint in the penal system and the medical system, and the families have presented similar stories of physical damage and heavy expenses. But the basic question still remains: if the narrative of the families and the observations of the experts are even a part of the reality, why despite the complaints, official letters of the boards and personal follow-ups, these activities continue and the final and transparent investigation has not yet been concluded?

In order to fulfill his media duties and clarify the dimensions of the issue, Ambassador Arjan also announces his readiness to publish the opinions of the clinic officials.