Isolation Timeout Used with Students with Emotional Disturbance

This 1-year-long study investigated the use of isolation timeout as a behavioral control intervention in a special educational facility. Subjects were 156 students with emotional disturbance. The relationship of timeout to demographic variables was examined for a subsample of 73 students. Results indicate that 13,000 separate timeouts occurred over the academic year. Average time in isolation was 23 hr per student. Older students in more restrictive placements were found to spend significantly more time in isolation than were other groups, though much of this difference was due to voluntary timeouts. Alternatives to timeout as a behavior control measure are discussed.