Diagnosed Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified.. is it really ADHD/ODD

[shellyd67]

Hi to everyone !

Wow the ODD behaviors were and still are in overdrive 2nite ! I am letting my husband deal with him right now. I am anxiously awaiting our visit to the neuropsychologist in May because all medications we have tried so far for my son have not worked. I am second guessing his diagnosis at this point in time. Although he was evaluated by a top doctor and the top children's hospital in our area a 3 hr exam does not etch everything in stone for me. He saw a behavioral therapist for over a yr and even she shrugged her shoulders and wasn't sure what was wrong with him. How frustrating and heartbreaking.... teachers have looked at me with complete pity and quite frankly I pity myself alot too ! I have looked at the symptoms of aspergers over a gazillion times and very few symtoms seem to fit but I still am not sure ... His ODD behaviors are impossible and have put so much stress on our family. He basically refuses to do anything he is told. If we say it is black he says it is white... unfortunate, unbelievable and sad. His social skills are terrible, although he has a few friends, he can never play a game with a group of kids without most of them running home screaming how they hate him (he has to pitch, he has to be 1st, he has to run the show, he teases and torments ) he is also quite miserable and nasty... there are times I think he is mentally ill. thanks for letting me vent !

 

[WhyMyAlex]

I tried responding earlier but kept messing it up. Darn spell checker.

Anyway... Alex has a followup with Children's Autism Center on Wed. Glad they could get us in so quickly. He is going to see the ANRP that has already seen. Before she was serving as sort of the second opinion on the medications the pedi prescribed but she will be taking over his medication management since that is her expertise. They suggested starting back with her and she will tell me if he needs to see a psychiatrist. I'm hopeful we won't have to go to yet another new doctor.

Raising Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) kids (or even just having them around) keeps you on your toes and your mind stimulated.

Umm.. if by that you mean I get to walk a tight rope and have sparks flying out of my ears... I totally agree. You think the nurse will give me a script of Adderall for mom's day to keep up with him?

 

[Marguerite]

You will often get ODd-type behaviours with any one of a number of conditions, from Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) to ADHD to bipolar to just plain annoying kid.

I personally hate the term "Oppositional Defiant Disorder" because it implies that the child is choosing to be obnoxious, deliberately to annoy. In fact I believe these kids want to be good, but they get into bad habits of always feeling like everyone is pushing them tis ay and that, when they have their own objective in mind and WILL not be deflected; and so they dig their heels in to do what they want and are in the habit of saying, "NO!" immediately you ask them to do something.

They need to be led ad encouraged, not pushed (no matter how much you think pushing is your right as a parent). The more you push, the worse you drive the kid into ODD. The more you can back off and learn to use the child's own stubbornness as good raw material, the more success you will have.

That's why we recommend "Explosive Child" so much - it gives you a lot of ideas on how to do this.

Marg

 

[shellyd67]

Thank you everyone. I just placed an order for THE EXPLOSIVE CHILD. I have read many posts that suggest this book and I cannot wait to read it !