Autism advocates are concerned that the FDA may delay its ban on electric shock devices

When Eagle visited the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center in a suburb south of Boston with her mother in the early 2000s, the 14-year-old entered the brick building and saw a bizarre sight: children wearing backpacks with wires bursting out of them.

She asked an employee about the backpacks and was told it was an electronic decelerator, a device that can shock a person’s skin.

“My anxiety skyrocketed. I just couldn’t believe something like this was here,” said Eagle, who prefers to use a pseudonym to protect her identity.