Can anyone tell me about ODD-Oppositional Dfiant Disorder?

Holly - posted on 01/29/2010

Jump hugs for you and all other parents dealing with these issues. My son's 'outburst' have gotten a lot better in the past year so I am started to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I remember some outburst of his where I just wanted to take him to the er and get a tranquilzler for him. For his safety and the safety of others...he would try to run out of a moving car and run into the middle of the parking lot I was and just am sometimes scared for my youngest child. I say hang in there. By the way, My son has just started a new med that focuses more on the behavior issues of ADHD then the hyperactivity and the attention. It is called Intuniv....Hang in there...I think the most important part to remember that this has nothing to do with you as a parent.

Penny - posted on 01/26/2010

Very interesting. I always knew my son was overly hyper since he got on his feet. I never took him to a doctor until it was a problem for him. During grade 3 he started meds. It helps a bit but there is no miracle. You need to learn how to get the results you want from the child. I have had to be very strict.
My son took concerta for many years, then only slept 2 hours a day, then took the clonidine which helped him sleep. He has a strong system and was on a adult dose by 11 years old. The meds only work for a few months and then his body adjusts to it. The only effect the concerta had was that he was able to stay at a task a bit longer. Not worth the side effects to me. He's now 13 in grade 8 and is not taking anything excet .1 mg of the clonidine to help him get to sleep but then he's up at 3 to 5 am every day. He goes to bed a 9pm. Without the clonidine he will only sleep about 4 hours a day. He has ADHA-ADD. i think ODD and could possibly be high functioning Autisim. He was born 14 weeks premature and weighted 1 pound 12 ounces. I read a article that most children born over 8 weeks early have these disorders. He has moderate despraxia, possibly from a medication that was given to him after birth and is hearing impaired.
I gave up on schools and teacher a long time ago. I rarely speak to them at all. A person down the street called the cops on my son last year for running around in the park at 5 degrees celcius in just shorts. I told the social worker that showed up that if she thinks she can do better to take him. Even Child and Family services don't want to deal with him. They would have to invest a lot of money into his care and really work for their pay for a change. They only offered him a stupid baby course that if he earned 25 check marks in a week i would pay for him to go to the movies or some kind of reward like that. Well he never earned more then 1 check mark. She also insisted that he would make his bed by 7am. Ya right. Never. Is the social worker going to come and get him to do all her stupid requests, not a chance. Dummies don't know shit here. We just try to manage the best we can without addictive drugs that are bad for a childs health anyway. Concerta stunts a childs growth and can induce drug seeking behaviour. Bassically turns your child into a druggie as soon as the doctors refuse to write the prescriptions the minute they are adults. ???? Be careful.

Tinamarie - posted on 01/26/2010

oh yh my daughter 16 and she got it bad i car do anything to please her and have to do oppositte of what i want her to do to get her to do it lol she has adhd aswell xxx

Emily - posted on 01/26/2010

The best thing for you to do, in my opinion, is to talk to his therapist/psychiatrist/psychologist/whoever is seeing him for his ADHD. You are going to get many replies and thoughts about the different drugs. Ritalin, although it has been around basically the longest, left my brother with heart problems after being on it for a long period of time. It also stunts growth. My brother is two years older than I am and he was about a foot shorter than me until they took him off it. Within a year he had grown almost a foot and a half. It may not be as dramatic in other cases, but it does happen. For others, it may also be a totally different story. My daughter started taking meds a few years ago and they started her off with Stratera. We had to stop that med about 3 months later because we couldn't deal with her meanness on it. It made her intolerable. She would hit people for no reason, hit and kick animals, tantrums were unbelieveable, and she just wasn't a pleasant child to be around at all. It totally changed her attitude. But, as soon as we took her off of it, she went right back to the sweet, yet hyper, little girl we knew. Then again, a friend of mine has had her son on Stratera for years and it has really helped him. So, my best advice-talk to the doc.

Meghan - posted on 01/25/2010

My son was diagnosed with ADHD about a year ago. He started to see a child psychologist and was also diagnosed with ODD. Like Jax said, there is no medication for ODD. Behavioral modification is about the only way to lessen the ODD. I would suggest talking to a child psychologist (if you haven't already) about different behavioral modifications to make it easier on your child and you.

Jacqueline - posted on 01/25/2010

Wow you all have sons with ADHD and ODD ... I guess I am the different one here. I have a daughter that was diagnosed with ADHD at age 4 and a half. We have a strong family history (myself, her father, her maternal grandpa, uncle, and a cousin) with ADHD as well. A lot of experience on this topic is had. We started her on adderall at that age and it did not help (took 6 months to realize this) then went to concerta. This was also a nightmare. She is one of the odd ones that ritalin helps out! She just recently got diagnosed with ODD (she is now 10) and is doing ok.

We were looking for meds or therapies to help her focus and stay interested in a lot of things. She loves sports: they are a godsend to get her energy spent, also loves video games and reading books. She is one of the lucky ones to be a "gifted" individual in school but her teachers have not seen it. She constantly comes home and tells me that she is BORED with the work that they hand to her but they don't listen. I am ready to go to the Principal once again to see what, if anything can be done on this issue. This past year she has been made fun of incessantly. The kids are quite relentless! We all know kids are mean, but this was the tip of the iceberg for her. She ended up tripping a kid on the playground for calling her a fatso and he hit his head on the ground. From that point on we knew she needed help. She had a lot of anger built up in her and I was looking for answers. Little did I know the answer was right in front of me. I work for an attorney as a Legal Secretary and he is also a Park District Commissioner and gets all sorts of pamphlets for the office. I just so happened to grab one about bullying and found out she is BOTH the bullier and the one that gets bullied. I brought this to the attention of her teachers and they started an anti-bullying program for her class. It worked wonders. Mission 1 accomplished. BUT she was still not working up to par and needed some work.

Proceed directly to mission 2: find a program that is a great fit for her and her sister. Trying to find something that is interesting for all persons involved is not easy. But we did. Both my husband and I work as a volunteer officer with a local EMA and we were at a fest doing traffic and went on break and saw some martial arts demonstrations. We inquired about it and found out that Scott (hubby bear) did it as a child. Well we decided to try it out for a month and then fully enrolled both girls into it. It has changed her full circle. No more fighting, no more bickering, and is quite able to calm herself when she gets aggitated. I strongly urge each and every one of you to enroll your child in a Tae Kwon Do program at your local Park DIstrict or Dojo. It is a great sport and great for the mind. Even I have started to do it too and love it to death. Back in September they started and here it is almost in February and they are working on their yellow belt.

Not only that, she has raised all grades to As and Bs and her sister has nothing lower than a C!!!!! Ritalin 2 times a day gets us through but we have a difficulty getting her to go to sleep, so we just let her fall out on the couch and transfer her to bed from there later.

Sorry for babbling on and on, but I had a lot to say on this. Oh and I was told there is no medication available to help ODD and that some of the ADHD meds will actually exacerbate the problem. Be careful and beware what is being done at all times.

Jax :-)

Marilyn - posted on 01/24/2010

My grandson has ADHD, ODD, and Bipolar. We've been through 3 different Doctors before we got him on the right meds. He takes 10 mg. Focalin, 15 mg. Abilify, and .3 mg Clonindine. He's doing better, he was diagnosed at 3 years old, but the state of Illinois wouldn't approve meds until he was 4. With the ODD he was having wild violent mood swings. I have been hit, kicked, punched, and knocked down. Since he is now 9 years old it gets harder to restrain him when he has one of his fits. The teachers at his school are great. They have a behavior specialist at his school, which helps alot! He also sees a counselor, he just started seeing him a month ago, so I don't know how much he has helped yet. His last counselor was great, we actually made some progress with him. Tell your Doctor about all of his mood swings and any violent behavior. I'm still dealing with my grandson and all of his problems. I'm also trying to get SSI for him.

Joy - posted on 01/24/2010

My daughter has been diagnosed with ADHD & ODD. As far as I know ODD isnt treatable, through meds anyway. Maybe by therapy. Its the ADHD that is treated.

Lela - posted on 01/24/2010

I think our sons my be one in the same. Thank you for your insight. You are so right in saying that the schools do not have the teachers to handle these children. My son to was placed in a residential treatment facility. As well he was placed in the hospital for threatening suicide at the age of 10. The doctors there did nothing more then sudate him. I have found that Concerta alone has worked best for him. At 15 his grades are fair in school but is welled liked. The teachers at his school are wonderful for the most part. But that is here in Kansas, in Nevada it was a totally differant story. His lastest problems arised this last week when he stole my truck in hte middle of the night and totalled it on icy roads. At just 15 he will now not be able to obtain his DL until 18 or 21. He is becoming depressed which worries me. He sees both a therapist and pyshcologist. Hopefully they too will see the issues and figure out a way to help him. He has such a sweet gentle deposition and I love him so much,

Bridget - posted on 01/24/2010

Concerta made my son act like he had ODD (hea was on this for 6 months and thought it was just how he was going to be). We changed to Concerta after seeing a new doctor and it was better but he could not sleep at night. We added Resiperdone at bed time and he is a changed kid. Just keep trying and don't give up. I finally found an ADHD specalist and it has been a God send.It took me 4 years to get to this point.

Cindy - posted on 01/23/2010

I really appreciate everybodys input, it has clarified a few things for me. The more I read the more I learn. I know my son has problems at school with the teachers and other authority figures and they keep trying to tell me he needs more meds but he has been upped on his meds to where the dr. feels comfortable and yet they still complain and call him names and bug him constantly! I just think there has to be more to it so thats why I am asking all of you!

Laurie - posted on 01/23/2010

My son has both. So it is a possibility that your son may have it as well. Does he oppose you at every turn? Does he have trouble with school and authority? Those are two issues my son has. He was diagnosed at the age of 8 and he is now almost 18. It is a difficult and trying thing when the children you love has so many things working against him. I ended up suing the school where my son was attending and won and then I started home schooling. It saved on the hassle of dealing with teachers that aren't qualified to handle things like ADHD and ODD. None of the teachers my son had could handle his problems and always blamed us for his outbursts. My son is a defiant child to the tee. He has been put into a childrens home twice by the school because they thoought he needed it and I have to say some things were good with it but others were not. For one thing my son was 4 hours away from me and we had to travel every weekend for group counseling and just to see my son. Plus we couldn't take him away from the home without there permission and that was irritating as all get out. But I have made it through and let me say that the love you have for your child will shine through and that is all we can hope for. My son is currently on a med called Concerta and that has been the best one he has been on to date. Do not use ritalin,wellbutrin,adderall. Those never worked for our son. At one point I had a doctor overdose my son with three different meds and he ended up going through behavior health to detox at the age of 8. So Definately talked to your doctor but see a child phsychiatrist as well and look into all your options. Laurie Wagner

Lela - posted on 01/22/2010

Having a son with both ADHD and ODD the main thing I can say is Ritalin does not help at all. Maybe consider a dirivative like Concerta or Stratera. My son has been on Concerta for ten years. Problems with all the others. Also as put to me by one therapist think of all the behaviors and three baskets....basket A is the things your child does that need your immedate attention and consquences (like setting fires playing with knives hurting themselves or others etc. ) basket B is the things that need to done but is not a matter of life or death (like homework it needs to be done but does it need to be done right at this moment can he/she finish the tv show first, giving them a transition time seems to help. Say I know you like to watch tv but you have responsibilties that need done, so I will comprimise you can watch this remainder of this show but then it is time for homework. ) basket C these are the things that really just don't matter "pick your battles" if your child has every intention to hang up their coat and walks into their room and it lands on the floor does it really really matter? Will they be harmed if they don't hang it up, will anyone be harmed? Will the world end? PICK YOUR BATTLES....is the best advice I ever received. Find the good in your child

Terri - posted on 01/21/2010

Also talk to the Dr. and make sure the ADHD med is correct. If their dose has changed it can trigger some of these too.

Kristy - posted on 01/21/2010

My step daughter has it. I think its a precursor for socio pathic behavior, where they dont care about the lives or well being of others, only themselves.....I wish you all the luck in the world. Be Strong.

Stacey - posted on 01/21/2010

ODD is often misdiagnosed in kids with high functioning autisum we thoiught my son had ODD to but they (his counsellors) think its autisum instead he's going through the assesment right now it might be something else to look at as well

Stacy - posted on 01/21/2010

My 11 y.o. may have it. He is seeing a counselor for other reasons and this came up as a possiblity. We have to take parenting classes to learn how to parent him. That is all I know. The symptoms listed below hits it on the head exactly. He does not have adhd, my other child does, but my adhd child does not fit the criteria for ODD. It is so frustrating!

Tammy - posted on 01/21/2010

you know this is one that I didn't know about my six year old has adhd and also has all the symptoms of odd I think I will talk to his doctor about it he was put on ritalin which has helped alot, but still having alot of problems with temper tantrums arguing with adults hopefully something works this has been quite a journey..

Theresa - posted on 01/21/2010

I s he already seeing the doc for ADHD treatment? If so just tell te doc your concerned that it may be more and you're wondering about ODD. The doc can ask you or give you a questioneer to fill out that will help him determine if your son is or is not.

Alison - posted on 01/21/2010

Here is a list of characteristics... it seems to me that these are common with most boys with ADHD:



* Frequent temper tantrums

* Excessive arguing with adults

* Often questioning rules

* Active defiance and refusal to comply with adult requests and rules

* Deliberate attempts to annoy or upset people

* Blaming others for his or her mistakes or misbehavior

* Often being touchy or easily annoyed by others

* Frequent anger and resentment

* Mean and hateful talking when upset

* Spiteful attitude and revenge seeking