the controversial treatment is being used on severely autistic children who self—harm. the bbc has been given access to film a child being treated using ect. our world's chris rogers meets parents who say the treatment is helping their children and the critics who say it is barbaric. a warning that the following programme shows children self—harming and undergoing electro convulsive therapy. some viewers may find these images upsetting. 16—year—old jonah is about to have electroconvulsive therapy, ect, today, in america. we are doing bilateral electro placement at 20%. our cameras have been invited for the first time to film this controversial treatment on a child. modern ect is a very simple, quick, safe procedure. some call for a total ban on ect for children. it's traumatic brain injury, very much like somebody who's just endured a severe concussion. butjonah‘s mother, amy, is campaigning to allow more children like him to have the procedure. there is no doubt that ect is the only reason thatjonah has any quality of life whatsoever. jonah is autistic, and before the treatment, he used to lash out and punch himself. her nose is busted and she was bleeding. she was constantly punching herself. i was convinced that our love would heal her. ect is ready used in these cases, but some families feel it is their only option. i have to have hope that it will be a miracle for sofija because we need a miracle. so those were the first pictures we ever got of her. so this was sofija in the orphanage? yes, she was probably two years old in those. hold on! in 2009, us army intelligence officer chad calvaresi and his wife kaci travelled to serbia to adopt five—year—old sofija. sofija had spent much of her short life suffering neglect and abuse in serbian orphanages. and she was autistic. hold on, hold on! sofija is one of the most charming little girls. we fell in love with her. chad and kaci already had three children. their youngest, nine—year—old seth, was also autistic. they wanted to use their experience to help a child unlikely to find adoptive parents. the first day we were with her she hit us all and bit us all and pulled my hair and punched our youngest son. determined to give sofija a better life, they brought her back to america. that first christmas she was writing and reading, it was just amazing. jesus loves me, nessa loves... we had great hope. i'm gonna try not to cry... we had great hope and we kept saying, i can't wait to see where she will be in five years, because at that point, i was convinced that our love would heal her. but over the next few years, sofija became increasingly violent and uncontrollable. the fall of 2013, she had an incident on a school bus where she agressed towards another student on the bus and got out of her seat and jumped on the bus driver, and within a week or two we were seeing it at home. itjust increased and increased and increased, to the point that we weren't even sure how to keep her safe. it was the worst case scenario. we had to bring her to the er twice. oh, my gosh. the last time, where she had beat herself so bad, so her nose was busted and bleeding, herlips were busted open and bleeding, she gave herself black eyes and then this is her cleaned up all the blood. but she had blood all over her face. it is estimated one in ten autistic children seriously self harm. no one really knows why. some theories link it to anxiety, caused by an overload of sensory signals. others to frustration. autistic children can struggle to communicate. behavioural disturbances is very common in children with autism, and oftentimes is readily amendable to treatments, but sometimes behaviours just can't be easily curtailed and sometimes become quite dangerous to the child. is she aware that she is doing this to herself? she is. it's like she is caught in the fight or flight mode. so she's fighting, but she is fighting herself. afterwards, she is dealing with pain from the injury she caused herself, but she's also dealing with the sadness because you can tell she realises that she lost control and she is upset that she hurt herself. when she was aggressive towards me, my instinct was, as a mum, ijust wanted to grab her and hold her and hug her and wait. and she got so big and strong that i couldn't do that. in early 2016, for her own safety, sofija had to leave home and go to a secure unit at the renowned kennedy krieger institute for brain disorders. it often took three highly trained care staff, using special techniques, to prevent sofija injuring herself and others. we've tried years of behavioural therapy, years of medication and we have proven time and time again that, for sofija, these don't really work. so, you know, like every other mum dealing with any problem with their kids, i went to google and said — right, dr google, autism self injury treatment. and i started finding some articles on ect. kaci came across author and campaigner amy lutz, whose own violently autistic son jonah has had ect forfive years. 14 is always blue, 13's always green. well, ect has been transformative forjonah's life and our life. we went for a period of time, for years and years, wherejonah was raging often multiple times a day. ferociously. and the only reason he is able to be at home, that he is able to be with us here in atlantic city, he is only able to do that because of ecg. amy runs a charity offering advice to parents in a similar position. and kaci has arranged to meet her. nothing else that we've tried has given herenough improvement to keep her safe, so how can we not take that chance? right, i think that's why for us ect was not a hard decision. so many people asked us about when we sentjonah to kennedy krieger when he was nine, and when we ended up getting ect later, wasn't that such a hard, hard decision, and for me, it was, no, it was the only decision. we went into it very enthusiastically because it provided some hope that we would be able to provide something which might actually work, after all these failed attempts. many are far less enthusiastic. this hard—hitting campaign video is made by the citizens commission on human rights, a group founded by the church of scientology, who oppose most psychiatric treatment. some human rights organisations call for a total ban, especially for children. leading the fight against ect is dr peter breggin, who has long campaigned against the psychiatric establishment. after seeing for myself the desperation of sofija's situation, i want to know why he thinks ect should never be an option. it's traumatic brain injury, tbi. the electricity not only travels through the frontal lobes, because that's where the electrodes are, and that's the seat of intelligence and thoughtfulness and creativity and judgment, it also goes through the temporal lobes, the tip of the temporal lobes a little further back, and that's the seat of memory. so you're lasting with an electric current the seat of memory. you're damaging the very expression of the personality, the character, the individuality and even, if you believe, the expression of the soul. jonah is heading into new york for his latest ect session. he is one ofjust a few hundred self—injuring children to have the treatment since it was introduced a decade ago. with the long—term effects not known, its use on children is blocked in some countries and a handful of us states. butjonah‘s doctor is so convinced it's effective and safe, for the first time he's allowing amy and our cameras to witness it. i think almost all of the problem with ect is misinformation, misunderstanding about what modern ect is, and continued perpetuation of the sensationalist portrayals of the past. that's the problem. nervous, amy, about seeing ect? i am, yeah, curious because i have wondered about it, but it is clearly not aversive to jonah. he doesn't fight it? no, not at all. jonah, are you able to lie down on the bed? lie down, jonah. jonah, i'm going to start putting some of these sticky pads on you, if that's ok? i'm going to clip this to your shirt here. 0k. jonah, what's your name? jonah lutz. when is your birthday? january. jonah has had around 260 ect sessions. the modern treatment is carried out under general anaesthetic, with muscle relaxa nts to prevent violent convulsions. and we're doing bilateral electrode placement at 20%. doctors admit they don't know exactly how ect works. there is a lot of interesting new neuro imaging research showing that ect actually reverses some of the brain problems in the major psychiatric illnesses. we don't know exactly why it works in people with autism and superimposed mood disorders, but we think it probably re—regulates the circuits in the brain that are disregulated. dr kellner will administerjust under an amp of electric current in a series of very short pulses. treating at 20%. the currant induces a seizure. ect specialists believe this, in some way, resets the malfunctioning brain. any thoughts, amy, now you have seen it? i mean, it's not scary. you know, there is a little bit of movement. i've seenjonah have a real grand mal seizure before and that's way, way scarier. it's kind of what i was expecting. the ect alleviates jonah‘s self—injuring behaviour for up to ten days. but it's not a cure. it's generally a very simple, safe, easy procedure like that. there are still medical experts that are very sceptical that ect does anything particularly for children like jonah, and that think it's cruel as well. i think those are uneducated criticisms and the way to counter them is to show people what modern ect is really like and show them the results with patients like jonah. what about long—term ? some doctors say there can be memory loss. well, we know about long—term effects because there are patients with more typical indications for ect who have been getting maintenance ect for many years, some for decades, and there really are no cumulative adverse effects for the treatment, so it seems to be very safe, even to continue it for long periods. worldwide, about a million people have ect each year. most for severe, often life—threatening depression. around 1% are under 18. memory loss is the main side effect, though the severity and even the definition is hotly disputed. studies by ect doctors suggest most memory lapses are very short term, with memory function soon returning to normal. those against ect have produced surveys showing more than half of patients suffer long—term memory loss. my life has lots of black holes, which represent memories restored... i don't remember my wedding day, i don't remember my husband putting a ring on my finger. when the person wakes up, they have all the signs, if they can speak, of traumatic brain injury. they may not know who they are or where they are all what has happened to them. a referee would stop a boxing match if the boxer got hit and looked like something coming out of ect, because they come out concussed. in baltimore, sofija has been in the kennedy krieger neurobehavioural unit for seven months, and there has been little improvement. parents chad and kaci are desperate to go ahead with ect. but dr wachtel wants to exhaust all other options first. most of our kids who come here do not need ect and people are rightfully cautious when it comes to children and children with special needs. beyond that, ect is very much a treatment, rather than a cure. you get to the issue of needing ongoing ect which can become inconvenient and expensive. if we can avoid that then we would certainly like to offer something that is more manageable. we are not allowed to film in the secure unit, so i catch up with kaci after she visits sofija. how was it? it was a rough day. a rough day? yeah. when i got there, she had been... i did even know what triggered it, she was in a big burst of behaviour. it is heartbreaking and it scares me, because i want to be able to bring her home. i have cried a lot today because i don't know how we can bring her home. when i told people i was coming to america to make a film about children that get ect, people are shocked. they say that is barbaric, that is crazy. i wish that people who don't understand the need for ect could spend a couple of days with sofija. this is where we are. we need ect and i have to have hope that it will be a miracle for sofija, because we need a miracle. a month later, sofija's doctors give the go—ahead for ect. probably after the third or fourth treatment we started to see a marked improvement in her mood, and an additional 30 to 40% reduction, just in the sheer number of behaviours. and in september, having been in the unit all year, sofija is allowed home to live with her family. sofija has been receiving intensive ect for six months now. the family have relocated to florida. the last time i visited the family i couldn't go near sofija for my safety, and for her safety. tonight will be quite an eye—opener. hello! hello, fellas! hi, sofija! i'm chris. hi. hello! great to finally meet you. i have come a long way. what's his name, do you remember? mr chris. you remember. i have a good eye! are you happy? are you excited ? sofija has had 33 sessions of ect so far. the family say they have seen huge improvement. can i have my headphones, right now? look at me, take a deep breath. i am excited! when she has behaviours, they are much shorter, less intense. she used to have bursts of behaviour where she was agressing and hurting herself for hours. now it will be a matter of a few minutes and then she will calm down. mother, i need you right now. you got me, girl. when i return the next morning, there is quite a surprise. one, two, three, four, five, six... yeah, girl, you got it. one, two, six. there you go. each weekday, sofija has school lessons with a specially trained carer. my biggest concern was that she was going to lose quality of life, that she would have brain damage. now she is back to loving doing multiplication and division. who is that? a dog. yeah. when she started ect, she was doing zero academic work at all. good job! but later that afternoon, six days after her last ect, sofija's behaviour deteriorates. chad and her carer have to use approved restraint techniques to stop her injuring herself. can i go to the beach? you know the answer to that. you said yes. no. what has sparked this? i couldn't tell you! i've taken any type of aggression, usually for one or two days prior to her usual schedule of ect. this is usually what we see. every friday, sofija leaves home at 6am for her weekly ect session. i'm going to be... safe. at first, sofija's doctors were happy for us to film the ect procedure today, but then there was a change of heart. the reason they have given us is they are worried about how the procedure comes across on camera, particularly with sofija, so that is it, we can't film inside the hospital. two hours later, sofija is on her way home. we got there within 45 minutes of treatment actually happening, and she was sitting up in bed talking to two nurses, asking for starburst chapstick for her lips. the only memory loss sofija has had from ect is she forgets that the procedure happened. keep going. stop, stop. 0k, you've got to look that part. it's pretty dramatic. she is sharp as a tack. she's absolutely sharp as attack. ect for severely self injuring autistic children like sofija is still in very limited use. and without a long—term scientific study, it remains highly controversial. sofija, do you want to hold this? now, sofija's parents have no regrets. they have their daughter back home. she is a joy. she brings usjoy and she loves life. she had zero quality of life. what about the thought of ect every single week for the rest of her life? it is overwhelming if i think about it but what future does she have without it? my hope is she does not need it for the rest of her life. but at this point, i see it as a diabetic needing insulin. it keeps her alive. literally, it keeps her alive. it makes it possible for us to be able to have her in our home living life with our family, and enjoying sofija. i love the way she pops back in, that is great! hello, there. good morning. it's quite wet across the north and north—east of the united kingdom, through the small hours of this morning, quite breezy, too, in the north—east. further south and west, some bright spells but a spattering of showers. and with the clear spells, it is a little bit chilly, major towns and cities, nine, 10 degrees, rural spots a few degrees below that. a fresh start across the board. still pretty wet in the morning across a large chunk of scotland, some south—western parts staying dry and bright in the morning. northern ireland one or two showers in the morning, some sunshine. scattered showers in northern england, a good deal of sunshine as well. particularly for manchester and towards hull. some early showers across wales and the south—west of england. towards the midlands and east anglia, a dry and bright start. one or two showers close to east anglia, not far from the south coast. a southerly breeze pushing in. through the day, showers developing quite widely across england, wales, northern ireland and scotland. wet into the afternoon, some could contain some rumbles of thunder and possibly a bit of hail. some spells of sunshine into the afternoon. 17—18 will be the top temperature in the northeastern corner. there may be some wet weather in inverness, on the chilly side. ten or 11 degrees there. the chance of some showers elsewhere. through the evening, a of showers turning to fade away from england and wales. they may eventually start to fade away from northern ireland as well. wetter weather towards the far north. that moves away by sunday. a fresh start, a good deal of sunshine, especially in the south—east. further north and west, more breeze and cloud. some rainfall western ireland and scotland. 111—15 degrees in belfast, 19 or 20 in the south—east. there may be some extra cloud in liverpool, but not too much. middle to upper teens. to recap the weekend, saturday will see heavy showers and some spells of sunshine. sunday looks like a much better day, should be dry for the most part. some showers, but mostly warm. that warming trend continues for some into monday. on monday, with a southerly breeze to the north—west, we've got an area of low pressure bringing some cloud, rain and a breeze. we will see some wet and windy weather in the north—west of the uk. to the south—east, very little rainfall and a bit warmer, 22 — 23 degrees. hello. i'm tom donkin. welcome to bbc news. us media are reporting that president trump told senior russian officials visiting the white house that the fbi director, james comey, was crazy, and that firing him had relieved great pressure on him as president. mr comey had been running an inquiry into possible collusion between russia and donald trump's election campaign. the ex—fbi chief has agreed to testify before the senate intelligence committee about the investigation. here's laura bicker with the latest from washington. president trump is off on