Reply to Oppositional Defiant Disorder Diagnosis

Forum Index » Kids With Special Needs and Disabilities

Reply to "Oppositional Defiant Disorder Diagnosis"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]Hi, so I’m the original OP of this post, so interesting it’s popping up again! My DS is now 13 going on 14. I wish I could tell you everything improved 100% but it’s been up and down since he was 7 or 8. His diagnosis right now is ADHD plus some mood component that we still haven’t been able to fully figure out, but it tends to be prompted by peer interactions. He's tricky because he'll go months without any issues and then have a big reaction to something in school. It’s definitely gotten better with age but it hasn’t fully disappeared.

He presents as perfectly neurotypical most of the time so when the behaviors arise after 4 months of great behavior it’s a shock to his school. He currently has a 504 plan. His psychiatrist is considering adding DMDD or Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria at this point. Throughout the years he’s been in OT, social skills groups (PEERS), and completed the Behavior Management Clinic at KkI (which he graduated with flying colors).

His behaviors are always based those rare triggers which is tough because most of the time he can rationalize and presents as fine, it would almost be easier to get some type of diagnosis if it happened more often. He’s in biweekly in person therapy and has friends at school, so in chosen social groups he’s fine.

In terms of meds he’s currently on 2mg Guanfacine. He has been on Prozac in the past for a few months which made things worse. We are currently considering other meds to address the mood piece and I’ve been looking into the Matthew’s protocol.

I wish I could be more helpful! My best advice is to find ways to build your child up. My son has gone to camp Sequoia the past 2 years and had a fantastic time and it really builds up his self confidence. He’s also has weekly piano lessons and is starting with a personal trainer and Brazilian jiu jitsu. Happy to answer any other questions.

Right now the big thing is high school. I’m the poster who was debating if a school change could impact behaviors. We’re between a big MCPS public school and a smaller but still large independent Catholic.

[quote=Anonymous]I have this exact same situation and would love advice of this poster to help my same situation at home🥹

[quote=Anonymous]KKI also diagnosed my son with Oppositional Defiant Disorder.  Frankly, I never believed it as a sole diagnosis.  To no surprised, DS was later diagnosed with ADHD (combined type), processing disorder and executive issues.  The combination of ADHD, the poor exclusive social environment that he was in and his high IQ basically created a child who was his own nightmare.  Counter-intuitive to what we were advised by the professionals, we became extremely tough on his behavior and buckle down on a strict routine.  He was rewarded when he behaved well and was punished when he did not.  It was hard being consistent all the time for years.  His self-confidence took a huge hit, but it was plunging anyway with his social environment at school.

We realize that he has ADHD but frankly the world does not care what diagnose a child has; they only care what the result is, and when you have a naturally curious and capable child, his "gift" gets ignored and forgotten due to his poor behavior.

Fast forward 3 years and I think we are finally making some headway.  We spend a lot of time talking to him about his emotions.  We are also stern with him.  He has matured and become more responsible.  He is now in the gifted center in 4th grade and am told by his teacher that he is incredibly kind, helpful and grounded.  Nothing is perfect and he has mostly good and a few bad days, but the routines we have drilled into him has incredibly helped.  Oppositional Defiant Disorder was handled with military-like consequences and regiments in our house, and that has worked for our son.

[/quote][/quote][/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics