5yr with ODD

myxstich

myxstich
Hello, this is my first post to my forum. I have a 5yr son fairly recently diagnosed with ODD but do not know what is behind it; I don't believe that he has ADD/ADHD, but do think that he may have an anxiety component. It has been very frustrating lately as his behaviors seem to have escalated to where we were in June (before help and risperdal). It has been a rough, violent day today. I am just not sure where to turn for support other than here, guess I needed a shoulder to cry on today. :sad-very:
 
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SRL

Active Member
Hi myxstich and welcome to our forum. You're with understanding friends here so cry away.

Beyond the ODD/defiance, what kinds of behaviors are you seeing in your son that might concern you?
How is the anxiety playing out? What kinds of fears does he show?
Are you seeing any unusual sensitivities-such as to noise, light, foods, water, clothes, etc?
 

myxstich

myxstich
Hello, The psychologist diagnosed my son. He has asked about ADD/ADHD as a possible reason, but I seriously don't believe that he has those issues. He is not on the go constantly, can stay focused, is not hyperactive, I am thinking it may be anxiety, but then again not sure. But if things are not going his way, or it seems as if he may feel that you are not listening to him (which can be difficult because he also tends to mumble when he is starting to frustrated), or he gets frustrated he will start throwing things, screaming, deliberately try to break things, rip up paper. I try to head some of his temper tantrums off at the pass, but it is difficult. If you try to hold him (like safe hold therapy) he will scream, cry, scratch, bite, hit, you name it. He seems to only have a sensitivity to light, especially bright light. If you try to ask him what you can do to help him when he is raging or getting close to raging he screams at you to leave him alone. Most of his rage seems to be directed at me which can really be hard to deal with at times. The last couple of days haven't been to bad, but then his dad (at least I feel) didn't really listen to him or his brother tonight. That can sometimes even make things worse. I don't know, every day is different, I try to minimize to many changes and hope that there are no tantrums this day.
 

SRL

Active Member
Giving a diagnosis of ODD to a young child is the equivalent of the specialist saying "This kid has issues and I don't have a clue why." so I suggest that you keep looking for a specialist who is willing to get to the bottom of it.

When a child of this age has problems that upsets daily life in the way yours does, we recommend a multidisciplinary evaluation. This would include an evaluation with a developmental pediatrician or pediatric neuropsychologist with at least a speech/language and occupational therapy assessment.

Does your little guy line up toys or other household objects? How about head banging?
 
My son (now 8) had a lot of issues with light and noise, and definitely didn't want to be touched while he was raging. The advice in The Explosive Child (by Ross Greene) really helped us.

When he was 5, his psychiatrist wouldn't put an ODD diagnosis on him, saying he was too young for it. [He's still called mood disorder - not otherwise specified.] Besides getting the Greene book, I'd certainly be looking for another medical opinion. Perhaps your pediatrician can recommend some good child psychiatrists, developmental specialists, or other professionals in your area that can help you more. The folks on this site are super and have a lot of good advice on getting proper help. Good luck!
 

Tania_port

New Member
Hello, The psychologist diagnosed my son. He has asked about ADD/ADHD as a possible reason, but I seriously don't believe that he has those issues. He is not on the go constantly, can stay focused, is not hyperactive, I am thinking it may be anxiety, but then again not sure. But if things are not going his way, or it seems as if he may feel that you are not listening to him (which can be difficult because he also tends to mumble when he is starting to frustrated), or he gets frustrated he will start throwing things, screaming, deliberately try to break things, rip up paper. I try to head some of his temper tantrums off at the pass, but it is difficult. If you try to hold him (like safe hold therapy) he will scream, cry, scratch, bite, hit, you name it. He seems to only have a sensitivity to light, especially bright light. If you try to ask him what you can do to help him when he is raging or getting close to raging he screams at you to leave him alone. Most of his rage seems to be directed at me which can really be hard to deal with at times. The last couple of days haven't been to bad, but then his dad (at least I feel) didn't really listen to him or his brother tonight. That can sometimes even make things worse. I don't know, every day is different, I try to minimize to many changes and hope that there are no tantrums this day.


I understand what your going threw. Everyday is getting harder for us also. Everyday all day long its tantrums. I feel like im going to go nuts. My child is 5 years old also. Im trying to get him diognosed with something. He tried to kill my cat and also i just found out by my 3 year old that he tried to hurt my husbands cat also. Gosh im about going crazy with this kid. Im about to give him to the mental ward or something. I just found out 10 mins ago that he actually stabbed at my cat. we have another cat also and he didnt mess with her. He only tried to hurt mine and my husbands,Gosh i think he hates us. I took him to an evaluation today and they recommended a behavior therapist for another evaluation because its been almost 2 years now. Im just sick with the thought of my child hating me. I hope you keep us posted what to expect with this condition for young children. Im going to keep blogging so that people can know about these kids and what the signs are. Hopefully parents will get help before its to late. Im so happy that i caught him before he got to old to control. Good luck! Keep us posted please.
P.S My child is so hyper he wont sleep at night hes waking up every few hours. I think hes got the ADHD also or ADD. Last time they did suspect it. You can tell if they have it they talk so much and they cant sit still. Their attention is taken off things very quickly with my son. I think my 3 year old maybe have a touch of it.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Hey, sorry you're going through this.
Does he have any delays or strange quirks? Any obsessive behaviors, lining up toys, not playing appropriately with toys, not making eye contact with strangers, not knowing to relate to his same age peers? ODD is not a very useful diagnosis. It just means the child is defiant or often in my opinion "I don't know."
Any psychiatric problems or substance abuse on either side of his family tree?
 
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