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Welcome to the board.  I'm glad you found us.


ODD is rarely a stand-alone diagnosis (diagnosis).  It is more a basket of symptoms caused by an underlying disorder (such as ADHD, bipolar, etc) and once that underlying disorder is treated the ODD symptoms dissipate.  I would believe your daughter when she says she can't help it.  I haven't met a kid yet who just wants to be bad for the sake of being bad.  Kids, especially at her age, want to please their parents.


A book highly recommended here is The Explosive Child by Ross Greene.  I think you will find it very helpful. 


I'm not the first one to jump on the medication bandwagon.  It was a long time before I would put my difficult child on medications because noone gave me a firm diagnosis and I didn't want to just medicate symptoms.  However, some disorders are biological in nature and some of these kids need medications just like a diabetic needs insulin.  And the difference in difficult child with her medications is HUGE.  I actually see joy in her face now.  I never did before.  I encourage you to keep an open mind about that when you meet with the professionals.  by the way, a psychologist is not an MD and cannot prescribe medications.  A psychiatrist can prescribe medications.


It is important for you to take time for yourself and time for just you and husband.  As others told me when I first joined, this is a marathon not a sprint. 


Again, welcome.


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