Treatments for 8 Yr Old with Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD)

Hello,
I do not have a child with ODD but I was a teacher for many years before staying home with my children and had several children diagnosed with ODD in my classroom (I was/am a special needs teacher). I think the most important thing to try to remember is that even though it can sometimes seem as if your child is out and out defying your request (which he is)he has a disorder and that makes it so much more difficult for him to follow through with your request no matter how much he wants to please you. Sometimes, ODD children can be so challenging for the adults around them they we can forget that the child isn't being "bad". That being said, here are some things I found helpful in my classroom. Give your son choices, but not really. For instance. If you want him to go to bed at 8pm. At 7:50 say, "Okay, you have a choice you can go to bed in 5 minutes or 15 minutes." He'll pick the 15 min probably which gets him to bed at his approximate bedtime but it was HIS choice. Also, keep clear, concise expectations, write them down so he can see them so you are not always "nagging" him to do things. If he needs to make his bed before school, make sure there is a check list for him to see every moring brush teeth, wash face, make bed. Another thing that can be helpful and get him moving in the morning is to buy one of those weekly clothing sorter things to hang in the closet. Put 7 days worth of clothes in there right down to socks and underwear. Each day have HIM choose which outfit to wear. With ODD kids it all stems from them not dealing well with being told what to do. If you can get him to behave socially appropriately with him thinking it was HIS idea things will be much easier. Good luck! And let me know if you have any other questions!!

Get to the closest homeopath you can find! Seriously, there are so many helpful and natural was to help him feel better.

Try to not give him anything with caffine in it as this will add to it. Always give possitive prase. There is a book call Transforming the difficult child by Dr Glasser its a great book

The folks who have told you that ODD is just a "throw away" diagnosis are fairly correct. A lot of times it's just given to kids that are acting out, defiant of rules and limits, and have never really had very many rules CONSISTENTLY applied to them. Then rules come down hard on them, and they defy them, and they push back HARD. It's like putting a saddle on a bucking bronco! A lot of times the situation gets a lot better if, like Krissy P said, you make the rules clear, the consequences very clear and consistent - that means if you say you are going to do it, then you DO it - no matter what! So if you have a consequence for breaking a rule - better make it realistic! No "grounded for life" threats! Not even "grounded for a month" threats! A great resource for many parents, believe it or not, are the tips on the website for the ABC show Supernanny. They have tips and tricks, even behavior "star charts" - I'm not a big believer in charts to penalize kids - but it can be a big motivator to some kids to earn stickers for GOOD behavior, and then if they earn so many stickers they get certain rewards. I did this with my kid. He was having problems at school and I came up with "four chances" for him to earn stickers every day. Even one sticker, and he got a "prize". At the end of the week, we counted them up, and if he got "this many" he could earn one thing, "that many" something else, and if he was almost perfect or perfect... we went out for ice cream sundaes!!! LOL

But consistency is the biggest thing. Do what you say you're going to do. And don't give in to the screaming. Walk away if you have to. But if you say you mean it - do it. Give the child some chance to make choices, so they don't feel like you're the big, bad, boogie-man. They won't push back so hard.

Good luck!

My son has this same diagnosis-ODD/ADD and the behavior can be changed with strict and consistant boundries,clarity of expectations, lots of positive reinforcement be careful not to "baby" your son or give rewards to easily for good behavior (I have made this mistake and found that it is easy for my son to manipulate me-get me to buy things for him every time that he does what is expected(simple things like brushing his teeth-he wants rewards for)and refusing to cooperate unless I buy him what he wants-this causes all kinds of embarassing scenes and does not send the right message to the child) My personal opinion/experience on the ODD is that you have a gifted/talented exceptional child that can not "conform" to the public school classroom.Public schools have the capacity to teach mainstream "normal" kids and learning disabled special ed kids.They are not able to offer specialized education to these gifted children that learn differently than the mainstream. Has your son been tested for learning disabilities? My son was diagnosed with ODD at age 5 and I blamed myself-where did I go wrong?He had behavior issues from pre-k-until the end of 3rd grade before the school finally insisted on ruling out learning disabilities (they were implying that he was bipolar)and I felt like I was being judged as a parent-it was personal.I thought that it was a waste of time&taxpayer $ to test because he is SO Bright!Exceptionally bright is what they found out-basically he is so advanced intellectually his brain/thoughts work faster than he can process or express verbally/written therefore leading to frustration,leading to disappointment,questioning self worth,leading to anxiety & depression. These children are often misdiagnosed with ADD (I think)because the schools & psychologists do not know how to deal with them-the only way to get them to conform & succeed is to get them on the ADD meds (I have to say that after finally giving in to this recommendation-my son has been much more successful in school & personal relationships).Good luck! it is not an easy road-having a child like this is consuming be careful not to neglect your daughters needs I also have a daughter 2 years older than my son and its easy to spend the majority of my energy on him and forget about her because she isn't always as demanding.God Bless

Hi S.,

My 13 year old was diagnosed as being ODD when he was around your son's age. They basically use this diagnoses along with ADHD because they want to have some "logical" reasoning as to why children are acting this way.

My son's therapist didn't really say too much about it except that we needed to be less strict with him and give him more leeway. Although we tried many things at home, including listening to the therapist, what it came down to was that we were too lenient with disciplining him for a good amount of time.

Once this clicked and we started to follow through with clearly defined rules and disciplines with consistency, his ODD has almost completely dissipated. Mind you, we have been working on this for the last 5 years, so it will take 2-3 times longer to resolve the problem than it did to cause it. Although everything is not perfect, he know better understands the rules and knows what the consequences are for not following them.

I wish you the best of luck.

I don't know how your son was diagnosed with ADHD or ODD but those are "jump to" diagnoses sometimes. If you haven't yet check out the ADHD center of western mass in springfield, on maple st. your son with under go a couple hours of testing to test for ADHD and other learning diabilities. ADHD is just such a common diagnoses that is not always "tested" for.
Consistancy is always best for a child with ODD.
good luck
Social worker/therapist

Please BEWARE! My daughter was (so they said) ADHD. She was on meds (think we tried them all) for about 2.5 years. She is a fun and energetic child who I took off the meds 1.5 years ago. She grew so tall soon after the drugs were gone. She is still full of energy - but I think (testing is being done) she does it to hide the insecurity of her learning faults. It is a common procedure to put on the drug and smile while you feel so helpless. The testings are so vague. Square pegs in round holes do not make them ODD. Some of us are blessed with low maintenance children and then you have HIGH maintenance. I would not change a thing (well come on now) I just keep the comunication open - stay involved, and believe that we are all different. MAKE SURE YOUR SON IS NOT BEING BULLIED! By other students and teachers do it too. IT DOES GET EASIER!
Be carefull with the medication. I'd call super nanny first!

Good luck. Love your child mostly - try other counslers just for kids!