Top time-out spots

Time-outs can be a great disciplinary technique for kids with special needs, whether they actually prevent future misbehavior or just provide a break in the action to distract the child from current behavioral transgression. Time-outs don't need to be long to be effective; the standard "one minute per year of age" formula may be overkill for a child with developmental delays, who is so much younger on the inside than on the outside. You have to tailor the timing to the child, but as little as 20 seconds is effective in stopping out-of-control behavior in some kids. What a time-out has got to be, though, is boring. If sending your child to a toy- and gadget-filled room has proved ineffective, pick one of our top 10 time-out spots for those moments apart.