Is it ok to pur a three year old autistic child in time out?

Question

Is it ok to pur a three year old autistic child in time out?

Answer 1

Yes, of course!  I would recommend that you make it immediate and I mean immediately after the second the unacceptable behavior is occurs.  Your child will need to see it as a negative consequence, too.  If you see him or her enjoying your attention, the place you put him, etc., rethink time-out in its entirety.  If it is working the way you want it to (he hates it), you will probably see him throw temper tantrums when he goes into time out.  That's okay.  He's expressing that it's undesirable.  Stay with the rules that you set out with at first.  Be prepared for the battle the first few times it happens.  Behavior often gets worse before it gets better!

Answer 2

i have an autistic brother so i know how to treat this kind of thing.

the way to do it is to not give him special treatment, but to treat him how he would be treated without autism. that is how my brother was raised and he seems normal now, except he is 6 foot 2 inches at age 15.

Answer 3

it depends on teh child-

it works with some

others will not understand-or may enjoythe isolation--or just will not stay in time out

Answer 4

My son is four with autism and time outs backfired on us. It is very important to set limits with all children, even those with disabilities, but a time out could go very wrong. I was putting my son in a time out when he would hit. He had to sit on his bed for 3 minutes. This stopped the behavior at the time and he would sit there very happy. Here's the problem. My son learned that if he hits everything stops and he gets to be by himself. So he started to hit all the time. If he didn't want to eat supper he would hit me, if he didn't want to participate in an activity he would hit. I had taught him that hitting gets you a break from interacting. So now instead of a time out  I redirect, as mentioned in a previous answer. When he hits, I say no hitting, and replace his action by an appropriate sign and word. He still hits on occasion, but less and less all the time. What is the behavior you want to end with this child?

Answer 5

In my experience the answer is yes, but with caveats.

You must be consistent with its use.  Also only use it in certain instances, like hitting someone or doing something that would endanger the child or someone else.  Not just for undesirable behaviors, like say yelling or acting out.  Then it is better to redirect, or use active ignoring.

Also if you are going to give time out you need to make sure the child knows why they are going in timeout and when they will be able to get out.  For us it is usually hitting someone.  When my daughter gets time out it is very upsetting to her, she gets out of time out only when she has calmed.

If you child can't calm down on her own, (emotional control is often diffcult for children with autism) then they are probably not ready for a time out.  First concentrate on techniques that he/she can do to calm themselves.  This needs to be done when they aren't upset because once they meltdown they have tuned you out.

Answer 6

I wouldn't put any three year old in time out unless I was sure they understood why it was happening. Timeout for its own sake is punishment. Why would you want to punish an autistic child? We teach kids to read, write, use the potty but we punish behavior. What????

Your autistic child is trying to communicate what he or she needs with behavior since that is probably the only way they know how to get their needs met. Try teaching communication instead of punishing the behavior.

That being said, this is not easy! Regular kids are hard enough to deal with. I would call my local school district and ask to speak to the "Child Find" specialists and see if you can get some help. Children with disabilities are eligible for school and services at three.

I have a friend who has a very autistic boy who qualified for special ed at three, but because she can't bear being away from him, she hasn't put him in school. Now he is almost 5 and is still completely non-verbal and acts out greatly. She has really missed the boat with him and what is sad is that it can never be made up............

Answer 7

I'm not sure you'll get an autistic child to stand still that long. I would focus on positive reinforcements rather than the negative ones.

Answer 8

Yes it is ok. But I would not let it last to long. Perhaps no longer thant 3 minutes. It helps them calm down. It is ok to tell them NO also.

Answer 9

yes

Answer 10

We can't say yes or no. No one here knows the child you're talking about, and we don't know if he understands consequences. I doubt it, I don't know many children with autism who do at that age.

If not, then it will NOT teach him to behave better. The best way to teach anyone, much less young people with autism, is to prevent the behavior from happening, model a better alternative and reward like crazy when he follows through.

Answer 11

Man, I'm really trying to remember my daughter at 3. She honestly didn't have any concept of time out, nor would it have been effective for her.  Now at 9-1/2 it is effective and she understands it.  

I guess it really depends on the child, and the severity of autism.  At 3 I would say no and redirect to a more appropriate behavior.  But that was with my daughter, who was nonverbal, and fairly moderately affected.

Often misbehavior in a child with autism is just communication gone wrong.  The child doesn't understand that their behavior isn't appropriate, and they need to be taught a replacement behavior that is appropriate.  Time out doesn't do that.  

For example, y daughter would flood the toilet with tissue. She loved to play in water.  She wasn't being ornery, just trying to feed her senses.  Instead of time out for flooding the toilet, I would say "No, we don't play here."  then redirect her to the sink where it was safe.      She might have hit her brother or sister, as a way to show affection, because she didn't understand the correct way.  Again, "No hitting, we hug (or high five)"