for lv2scuba Intro Post

[SRL]

(Welcome to our forum, lv2scuba. I'm copying your post to a seperate thread--it will be easier posters who are replying to keep the kiddos straight. SRL)

Hello I am new, and boy am I glad I found you guys. My Son is 5 and has been diagnosed with with ODD, My Husband and I have been going nuts. Not only does my son have ODD, but has been dealing with his father being gone to IRAQ for the last year and a half, so now that he is home we have had all that plus the ODD. When my husband first came home things weren't as bad, but seems like things have gone from bad to worse, no method of discipline works, school & Home issues out the Ying yang. We had the behavioral Pyshcologist do the tests etc, and the psyc prescribed him Vynase, does anyone know anything about this drug? I've never heard of it and wasn't sure what to look for with it.

Thanks
discipline advise needed also!

 

[hopeful]

I found this link and thought it was interesting info on the Vynase. http://large-group.com/babble/20070929/msgs/786237.html the thing is, ODD is not ADHD and treating the ADHD does not eliminate the ODD stuff. My daughter used ridlin as they said she was ODD/ADHD and it worked for a while but the ODD kicked in and she refused to do the ridlin! and then there were the outbursts when she came down...lack of appetite etc. ODD requires parental training. You have to learn how to be a psyc nurse! and you need to take care of yourself.

The first thing to come to terms with is that this is not your fault, you can't love them into changing, you have to be a united front as parents, you need to make sure you find time for each other and you have to get parenting classes, make a plan and be consistent together. Divorce is one of the number one outcomes of ODD.... And if I sound preachy I don't mean to - with all the yous. Its just that behavioural modification is hard to do, hard to learn, and hard to be consistent in.

 

[SRL]

Sorry you had to find us but I hope you'll find some good help here.

For discipline help, we strongly suggest The Explosive Child by Ross Green. There's a thread at the top of this board that should help you.

Vyvanse is the newest of the ADHD medications and when I searched our site I didn't find many families that had experiece with it. (The fact that the name easily loans itself to being misspelled probably doesn't help that)It is similar to Adderall if that's any help but as always, any small change in a medications formula can bring about good and bad responses.

Does your son have a diagnosis of ADHD or are you seeing signs of that at home?

 

[BusynMember]

What type of professional diagnosed your son? Did he have intensive evaluating? I admit I"m not a fan of throwing stims at kids without making darn sure they have ADHD and not a mimicker. Our first diagnosis. was ADHD/ODD, but it was wrong and we had our son on many stims...I don't want others to make our mistakes...Recommend a neuropsychologist evaluation or seeing a Developmental Pediatrician (or both). It's hard to rightly diagnose very young kids. Even adults get misdiagnosed. This is an inexact science.
ODD rarely stands by itself.
ADHD looks a lot like high functioning autism and/or early onset bipolar. I wouldn't touch medications until this child was completely tested. The wrong medications can make him worse.

 

[lv2scuba]

We went to a Child Psychitrist, who sent us to a Behavioral Physchologist. The dr Diagnosed him with ADHD predominately Hyperactive Impulsive Type and Oppositional Defiant disorder. I do doubt the ADD part but not the Hyperactive, and the ODD from what I am ready has my little ones name written all over it. medications are definately not what I want and am open for any other suggestions.
Thanks

 

[lv2scuba]

He was diagnosed ADHD prodominately Hyperactive implusive Type and ODD. I'll admit its been a tough time, with My husband being gone and dealing with this all by my self for almost 18 months, then him coming home, I felt as though I had failed somehow, but I know I have done what I should with him, so my hope is we can find the answers to help him be all that he can. He is very intelligent, and I have no doubts about his potential, so if we can survive the Godzilla child, we can suvive anything!

 

[BusynMember]

ODD means "defiant behavior." It's probably how all the kids on this site behave. However, they ACT ODD for various reasons. Some have bipolar. Some have ADHD. Some have Learning Disability (LD)'s. Some have a form of autism. They ALL cause the child to act with ODD behavior. I'm NOT saying you shouldn't use medications. I'm saying to get additional evaluations. ADHD is usually a first diagnosis, but very often not the last one or the real one. Kids with early onset bipolar are VERY defiant. Kids with high functioning autism are defiant because they can't handle change or stimulation or are frustrated because they have trouble communicating. I would really check it out because we've been there/done that and my poor kid was taken on the ADHD AND bipolar medication route, when he had neither disorder. in my opinion when they're young, better to keep looking for what's wrong and treat it appropriately. I am not convinced a behaviorist will help you, but you can certainly try. Many of our kids, due to their disorders, are pretty immune to normal behavioral interventions. I still like neuropsychologist exams. Please don't feel like a failure. You have a kid who is wired differently so he is difficult, but that isn't your fault.
Good luck!

 

[susiestar]

Remeber, NONE of this is the fault of you, husband or really the child. The child was made differently. His brain and body jsut work differently.

Using regular parenting, our kids just don't function. The behaviors get out of control. It is like putting regular gas into a chainsaw. It does not work correctly. You have to mix oil with the gas.

We have to mix other parenting techniques and medications and other stuff WITH our instincts to get the right "fuel" to make our kids able to function.

Get the evaluations, make sure you AGREE with the assessment and treatment plan. If you have doubts, or if your instincts say NO NO NO!!! Then don't. A parent's instincts are usually very much on target.

I know my son was given the ADHD label, but it really was Aspergers Syndrome. Adhd medications helped some, but we got lucky there. (ADHD like behavior is one of the SYMPTOMS of Aspergers. Some disorders are made much worse by ADHD medications.)

Midwest Mom has some good suggestions.

I also find http://www.loveandlogic.com very helpful. There is a LOT of free info available on the website. There are things you can buy, but you don't have to in order to understand it. We have the books and some tapes. I even went to a seminar that was incredible. One of the reasons it works so well for us is that my husband thought it made sense. Even exerpts from The Explosive Child didn't make sense to him. He thought it was too much like spoiling him instead of disciplining him.

Love and logic made sense to my husband, it was the FIRST parenting book he read all of. He could wrap his brain around it, AND he could find ways to use it.

This meant we could work TOGETHER to parent our son. And our other 2 kids. I think the TOGETHER part of it worked as well as the techniques simply because we were not undercutting each other's progress.

Hope some of this helps.