Two years ago there was a student in my school I will call "Aaron." Aaron
             was a serious behavioral problem. He would repeat offensive phrases over
             and over, for instance repeatedly saying "Miss Murray farted! Miss Murray
             farted!" He would look around to see if the other students were paying
             attention to him, and then do it again. He struggled with academics
             unpredictably and resisted any work that involved writing. Sometimes his
             misbehavior seemed deliberate, such as in the case of repeating phrases
             that seemed designed to disrupt the class. At other times, however, he
             seemed to be in genuine distress. Unfortunately when he was stressed, he
             Aaron was thoroughly evaluated, including an extensive evaluation for
             autism, and was found to be autistic. He was provided with a full-time
             paraprofessional who was to be supervised and trained by the special
             education teacher. However, the paraprofessional had no formal training,
             and the special education teacher had other students and other
             responsibilities in addition to Aaron. The paraprofessional did the best
             she could, but she did not know how to redirect his behavior, and Aaron
             The special education teacher set up a "time-out room" where Aaron could
             go, not as punishment, but as a place to calm down. It was adjacent to the
             office, not a classroom, so even if he yelled and screamed, he did not
             interfere with other students' education. His paraprofessional would stay
             outside the room until Aaron said he was calm enough to return to class. He
             was not required to do schoolwork, as this was time to calm down. It was
             supposed to be non-punitive. However, progress was slow.
             One day Aaron refused to leave the classroom. The principal came and
             physically carried him to the time out room. Although the principal knew it
             was supposed to be a non-punitive intervention, however, he went into the
             ...