Is Timeout always considered "punishment"? Explain your answer...?

Question

been trying to answer this question for a work test, but so far my answer wasn't good enough lol any ideas.

I'm a therapist for autistic kids, and this test is driving me nuts, help please lol ^^

Answer 1

In my opinion, time out is a method of discipline more than it is a punishment. By having the child sit or stand in a designated place for a certain amount of time it teaches the child that there are consequences to their actions. It also permits a child that has become too excited or too wound up to settle down and behave appropriately again.

Answer 2

Since this is for a test, I'm wondering if the expectation is that you answer the question from a learning theory perspective; specifically B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning theory.
Based on that, time out could be considered punishment or negative reinforcement. The distinction may be difficult to understand if you are not familiar with the key terms in learning theory but I'll do my best to explain further.

Punishment refers to application of an aversive stimulus or consequence geared towards decreasing a certain behaviour. In the case of time out, the consequence of being removed from the situation is meant to decrease the undesirable behaviour that led to the time out. Negative reinforcement is removal of a desirable stimulus to increase behaviour. In the case of time out, removal from the situation is meant to increase alternative behaviours.

Hope this is what the powers that be at work are looking for.

Answer 3

No. Sometimes kids need a timeout to calm down from overstimulation or just because they need some alone time. The overstimulation is especially common with individuals that are Autistic.

Answer 4

I think of time out as being a 'cool down period' for a child. Sometimes they just need to be removed from a situation in order to refocus or calm down. Often the reason a child is misbehaving is because of what's going on around them. Hope this helps a bit.

Answer 5

Wouldn't timeout be something that was counterproductive for autistic kids? You don't want them spending time by themselves....that's what you are trying to cure them of. They need more social interaction.

Answer 6

time out is not gonna work for an autistic kid least not any i have come in contact with it will just pizz em off i would personally take the item they have had at the time they got in trouble and put it somewhere out of reach while i let them no i m not happy with what they have done they may seem like they are not listening or u ain t getting through but they hear you

Answer 7

Tihs won't work for an Autistic Child of any of the syndromes -- because it is NOT a punishment -- to them -- time out (Time to themselves) IS A REWARD!!!!!!

Think about it -- I am a single parent (Long Term) who raised my two disabled children to adulthood (and now they are on their own) -- one of whom has Asperger's Syndrome (High Functioning Autism). To REWARD her for her high performance or good effort -- I would ALLOW her to have more TIME to herself -- so that she could do what she wanted to do -- so TimeOut was the REWARD for her efforts.

IF you want to PUNISH an Autistic Child -- make them stay active and focused, keep them on their toes, keep them working on the problems or skills -- that is PUNISHMENT to them.

Answer 8

When Timeout is used and the place used as Timeout is the kid's room, it probably isn't punishment at all. All of his toys, tv, books, computer, videos, music, blankie and bed, etc. are located there.'

Answer 9

Yes time-out is always considered punishment.

Why:
Consider that the term time-out is short for "Time-out from positive reinforcement," and is defined as the loss of access to positive reinforcers for a period of time (usually brief) contingent on the occurrence of the problem behavior. The result of time-out is a decrease in the future probability of the problem behavior. Thus, this is technically a punishment based procedure (loss of a reinforcing stimulus resulting in a decrease of the behavior in the future).

Keep in mind that the function of the problem behavior is essential in determining whether or not to use time-out. Most of the answers you are getting assume that because the person is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, they must then prefer to be alone (escape) meaning that time-out (i.e., exclusionary time-out) would not be effective. However, research has demonstrated that people diagnosed with autism do engage in problem behaviors that are maintained by attention, and in these cases time-out may be an effective procedure. I am saying may because I think that anytime you are managing the problem behaviors of someone diagnosed with autism you must consider that if the person engages in stereotypy, it is likely that they will engage in the stereotypic behaviors while in time-out. If this is the case time-out would not be effective (nor would it technically be "time-out") and would then be a positive reinforcer and as a result you would see an increase in the problem behavior.

Based on behavioral function, time-out would be appropriate for problem behaviors maintained by social attention or access to tangibles, because access to these positive reinforcers may be effectively removed.

Things to consider when using time-out:
The "time-in" environment must be rich with positive reinforcers for time-out to be effective. If the time-in environment is austere, then the time-out environment is no different since positive reinforcers are lacking.

Time-out should not be used for problem behaviors maintained by escape (time-out would be reinforcing by providing escape contingent on the occurrence of problem behaviors) or sensory stimulation (e.g., stereotypy). Remember for time-out to be effective the time-out environment must remove the person from access to positive reinforcement.

Ensure that the use of time-out is practical for those who are to implement the procedure, and ensure time-out is possible in the current environment.

Ensure the safety of the person can be maintained. If the person engages in self-injurious behavior, time-out is not the procedure of choice due to the potential for serious injury.

Time-out should be brief and it is necessary to ensure the person cannot escape from the time-out situation.

Finally, it is worth considering whether or not time-out is acceptable in the situation. Laws may bar the use of time-out in certain situations and some people may object to its use (remember it is a punishment based procedure with all of the pitfalls of punishment being applicable).

Hope this helps.

Answer 10

Time out is a non-punishment...give the little bastard a whack or two on the a*ss. That's punishment!!