time out room

Post Reply New Topic

Hi

I'm looking for help again and whenever I need it I always turn to this forum, My 5 year old boys school is asking if they can use a time-out room to control his behaviour which is sometimes violent towards the staff and other pupils, he only started the school in August 2013 and from day one he has had problems.

We are currently waiting for an appointment/assessment of my son from the autism clinic and at the moment he is undiagnosed but suspected of having Asperger's, does anyone on here have any first hand experience or knowledge of these time-out rooms, the teachers from the start have been very understanding and supportive of his behaviour so I did not take this suggestion as outrageous but now having read online about these rooms I am not so sure if its a good idea, any help/advise would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Time out room---no, I don't like either. However, under different language it can make sense. And some children like getting away so the language really matters for everybody. A break room, a sensory room to take a break, those can make sense and if not overused, just when he is overstimulated and needs time to regroup could be very helpful. And it enlists your child in learning how to calm. You probably would like him to have space to recover from being overstimulated or having a meltdown. But this should not be punitive unless it is seen as a discipline issue. I would want an occupational therapist involved because that helped my child, but definitely depends on the persons skills for planning how to help an overwhelmd child.

Punitive language serves no one if the child needs help. They may not intend it that way, though.

you should see the room first

some schools have rooms they call time out rooms that are basically prison cells they lock kids in

Yeahyou want to stay away from words like "room", "seclusion", and "restraint".

My daughter has breaks written into her IEP, however they are to be taken in the designated spot that was selected by her (approved by staff of course, middle of the floor would be a bad spot, right?) at the beginning of the year.

or you can homeschool him and not worry about their punishment!

Depending on your child, and the room this could either backfire or work. If the room is calming, and he accepts it as such, and it is worded as taking a break, it may work. This never worked for us, b/c our son never bought into it and the stimulation levels were either too high or too low. They will not want it to be viewed as a reward b/c otherwise behavior will get worse so he can go there, so it is likely to be boring and confining. If it is where he can see interesting things but cannot touch them it may set him off.

Have they tried a calming "area" in the classroom in a corner with books or something relaxing? That worked for minor issues some of the time. When it got beyond that, and he got sent out of the class, behavior got worse.

YMMV

The school has shown me the room it is good size with nothing in it and a window in the door and someone will be watching him the whole time he is in there, they have said it will be a last resort but at the moment as he ends up being removed from the class and getting one to one attention in a nice cosy room with a psa that he likes then they think he using his behaviour as a means to an end and the teachers think this method only works in this case and if it is not a means to an end it will not improve his behaviour.

The teacher who has suggested it also then thinks if it doesn't work in a short space of time then it wont work and they will look at other methods, I spoke it through with her again yesterday and to be honest I trust she is coming from a good place and the last thing she wants to do is make him distressed and if he is showing signs of this it will be back to square one and looking at different options. I just wish I could be there to ensure that is the case, I've read a lot online abut this being abuse.

They might be able to achieve the same goal by rewarding good behavior with time in the cozy room with a well liked aide instead of trying to control your child with discipline in the time out room. I agree that people are usually very well intentioned though.