Oppositional Defiant Disorder Diagnosis

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does therapy usually work for ODD diagnosis. We are currently looking for a therapist for our ODD kid. The problems at school have escalated and we need to find something asap.

Therapy can help, but it's often slow going. You want to keep checking at KKI to see if you can earlier appointment if someone else cancels.

[Anonymous]

My son sounds a lot like yours. He had a bad few months in elementary school when he had a terrible classroom placement and very inexperienced teacher. He became easily frustrated and acted out. We took him to a psychologist who labeled him ODD, but several years later I think it was the wrong diagnosis and his difficulties were purely situational. He’s HFA/ADHD. His teacher just had no clue how to manage a classroom. DS called her on it and teacher intentionally provoked him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son sounds a lot like yours. He had a bad few months in elementary school when he had a terrible classroom placement and very inexperienced teacher. He became easily frustrated and acted out. We took him to a psychologist who labeled him ODD, but several years later I think it was the wrong diagnosis and his difficulties were purely situational. He’s HFA/ADHD. His teacher just had no clue how to manage a classroom. DS called her on it and teacher intentionally provoked him.

I hear what you’re saying, but “called her on it” is a bit obnoxious. It’s also just as possible that he has behavioral issues that will manifest in certain contexts.

[Anonymous]

I’m sure DS was obnoxious in class. I don’t doubt that at all, and he should have kept quiet rather than point out her mistakes and inconsistent discipline methods.

The teacher was new, just out of school, and afraid to ask for help from special ed staff to deal with challenging behaviors and rivalry among students. She thought admin would question her ability to teach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"He doesn't lie or provoke conflict among peers. He doesn't brag about being mean. He doesn't exhibit unprovoked anger. It's more like he has meltdowns when things he perceives as unfair happen to him and the tantrums just snowball into increasingly bad behavior. He is very sensitive and easily annoyed and sometimes doesn't comply with adult requests. He is well liked by his peers and has a lot of friends in school."

To me, the screams NOT ODD. My bet is ADHD, anxiety and/or ASD.

-Mom of child who's meltdowns much improved when put in a more appropriate educational setting and medicated for ADHD

My DD with anxiety and ADHD has a similar behavior profile--sensitivity, non-compliance, perceived injustices provoking tantrums --all improved once we got treatment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some kids are O & D because their teacher sucks sms treats them badly. I have worked with elementary kids for many years and seen this more than a few times. The school will never admit a teacher sucks and treats kids badly. However, sometimes they will approve a transfer to another class. Sounds like that might be what happened to your kid. They might characterize it as a personality conflict, and although some other kids might tolerate the lousy teacher better than your kid that doesn't make the situation your kid's fault.

Nope sorry. I've worked with kids for many years too. You can't blame the teacher for this one. Yes, a bad teacher can cause anxiety, etc, but ity is abnormal for a teacher to cause a child without ODD to suddenly hit, tantrum, and do other aggressive things unless we are talking about 2 year olds or at least younger kids or sexual abuse, physical abuse or significant emotional abuse (not teacher yelling at class now and then). I think it does a huge disservice to this child to blame the teacher rather than get him the level of help he needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"He doesn't lie or provoke conflict among peers. He doesn't brag about being mean. He doesn't exhibit unprovoked anger. It's more like he has meltdowns when things he perceives as unfair happen to him and the tantrums just snowball into increasingly bad behavior. He is very sensitive and easily annoyed and sometimes doesn't comply with adult requests. He is well liked by his peers and has a lot of friends in school."

To me, the screams NOT ODD. My bet is ADHD, anxiety and/or ASD.

-Mom of child who's meltdowns much improved when put in a more appropriate educational setting and medicated for ADHD

My DD with anxiety and ADHD has a similar behavior profile--sensitivity, non-compliance, perceived injustices provoking tantrums --all improved once we got treatment.

Good job parent! Glad to hear that. The key is treatment because the child's behavior is a cry for help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"He doesn't lie or provoke conflict among peers. He doesn't brag about being mean. He doesn't exhibit unprovoked anger. It's more like he has meltdowns when things he perceives as unfair happen to him and the tantrums just snowball into increasingly bad behavior. He is very sensitive and easily annoyed and sometimes doesn't comply with adult requests. He is well liked by his peers and has a lot of friends in school."

To me, the screams NOT ODD. My bet is ADHD, anxiety and/or ASD.

-Mom of child who's meltdowns much improved when put in a more appropriate educational setting and medicated for ADHD

My DD with anxiety and ADHD has a similar behavior profile--sensitivity, non-compliance, perceived injustices provoking tantrums --all improved once we got treatment.

Good job parent! Glad to hear that. The key is treatment because the child's behavior is a cry for help.

Not OP - My kid has similar problems as stated above but the psychologist ruled out ADHD completely and says it is ODD and Parent-Child Relationship problems. He has been very defiant and lately has been more aggressive. What kind of therapy would help him in self regulation and control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some kids are O & D because their teacher sucks sms treats them badly. I have worked with elementary kids for many years and seen this more than a few times. The school will never admit a teacher sucks and treats kids badly. However, sometimes they will approve a transfer to another class. Sounds like that might be what happened to your kid. They might characterize it as a personality conflict, and although some other kids might tolerate the lousy teacher better than your kid that doesn't make the situation your kid's fault.

Nope sorry. I've worked with kids for many years too. You can't blame the teacher for this one. Yes, a bad teacher can cause anxiety, etc, but ity is abnormal for a teacher to cause a child without ODD to suddenly hit, tantrum, and do other aggressive things unless we are talking about 2 year olds or at least younger kids or sexual abuse, physical abuse or significant emotional abuse (not teacher yelling at class now and then). I think it does a huge disservice to this child to blame the teacher rather than get him the level of help he needs.

But the child in question has HFA/ADHD -- both of which absolutely can result in temporary behavioral issues caused by the environment. You have to question how useful it is to add on an ODD diagnosis in such a situation, where the behaviors disappear in a different setting. ODD should be consistent across time and different environments if it's a "real" diagnosis. If not, the oppositional behavior is a symptom of other issues.

[Anonymous]

OP Here: We have had a few sessions with a fantastic psychologist (out of network of course) for our son and she thinks that he most likely has anxiety exhibiting itself as ODD, she also thinks he might have ADHD. We are going to wait until our neuropsych testing at KKI and continue seeing her in the meantime. We've also met with her on our own to go over various parenting techniques.

He's been much better in his new class but is still somewhat reactionary. For example he was in a group of three in Science and his group mates thought he spilled a glass of water during the experiment when he didn't so he pushed one of them. He's also been having nightmares lately. It's a work in progress, and all these shortened weeks we've been having haven't helped since he thrives on structure but it's been going well considering.

[Anonymous]

Can anyone recommend a great psychologist that specializes in ODD? My 7 year old son exhibits all classic traits (I’ve read books on this) and I’m having trouble finding someone who specializes in ODD in DC. Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

Can't help you there but I urge anyone with a child that exhibits ODD (especially if it seems like it's sudden onset) to pay close attention if/when your child is taking antibiotics. If there is a sudden flare or a dramatic decrease in symptoms, it is possibly an underlying infection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone recommend a great psychologist that specializes in ODD? My 7 year old son exhibits all classic traits (I’ve read books on this) and I’m having trouble finding someone who specializes in ODD in DC. Thanks in advance.

I made an appointment with Kennedy Kriejer. it's far but they take insurance. Also, once we have a diagnosis and a treatment plan, then I will focus my attention finding a provider close to home. That's the approach I have decided to take with DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP Here: We have had a few sessions with a fantastic psychologist (out of network of course) for our son and she thinks that he most likely has anxiety exhibiting itself as ODD, she also thinks he might have ADHD. We are going to wait until our neuropsych testing at KKI and continue seeing her in the meantime. We've also met with her on our own to go over various parenting techniques.

He's been much better in his new class but is still somewhat reactionary. For example he was in a group of three in Science and his group mates thought he spilled a glass of water during the experiment when he didn't so he pushed one of them. He's also been having nightmares lately. It's a work in progress, and all these shortened weeks we've been having haven't helped since he thrives on structure but it's been going well considering.

This is wonderful, OP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some kids are O & D because their teacher sucks sms treats them badly. I have worked with elementary kids for many years and seen this more than a few times. The school will never admit a teacher sucks and treats kids badly. However, sometimes they will approve a transfer to another class. Sounds like that might be what happened to your kid. They might characterize it as a personality conflict, and although some other kids might tolerate the lousy teacher better than your kid that doesn't make the situation your kid's fault.

Yup +1