New to all of this!

lovelyboy

Member
Hi, every one...I don't even know if I belong here?

Short history....My son is 6 yr old...Since birth he was a very sensitive baby, later diagnosed with food and environmental allergies.....He is still a anxious child who gets upset VERY easily! I had him twice at a child phychologist who said that he is highly intelligent and bright, she can't detect any dysorders....She only picked up that he has alot of supprest anger.

I later took him to a new psychologist who had a long interview with me and only after seeing my son for 20 minutes said that he has ODD!(Because he wasn't very interested of working with her and his history)....:sad-very:
I went back to the previous psychologist who is head of the child trauma clinic...Again, she doesn't see something wrong.
But lately his behaviour became more irritable, plenty of crying outbursts, screaming ect. I went to look at the symptom checklist of ODD and to my big surprise he meeted all 8 of the criteria! He also did something that upset me alot the last week: After I didnt want to give him his way he went to fetch a play knife, hide it and came from the back and 'cut my neck' imaginary...:(...We had a long discussion and I desided to take away his star wars game,because of all the fighting in the game, thought this might have triggered this behaviorhis. This was the last straw so I made an appointment to go and see the psychologist again in october...

But what I don't understand is that he can be the most loving child, showing remorse and trying to improve his behavior...He is very well behaved at school and at friends house , he does well in school and is the model child! Sometimes when I share his behaviour with his teacher, she is utterly shocked as if I'm talking about a different child! But at home he just show almost NO respect towards my authority, ect...you know the behavior!

I feel so guilty, as if I want to put a label around his neck, talking negatively behind his back, letting him down...And most of all I feel guilty and wondering if I'm not doing something wrong that causes this behavior....Maybe this is just the way a 6 yr old is?

Am I over sensitive or looking for stuff that's not there...?
Any advice or opinions welcome
 

LittleDudesMom

Well-Known Member
Good Morning and welcome to the board.

Let me say to you that diagnosis'ing a child can be very, very difficult. There are symptoms that present themselves so crystal clear that docs have no question when the diagnosis. But in many, many cases, the children are very complex. Many disorders present differently from child to child. Don't feel bad in your search for a diagnosis. Often a diagnosis means a treatment plan.

In regards to the ODD. I am suprised a doctor, within 20 minutes of meeting a 6 year old, would diagnosis ODD. Your instincts were perfect by going to another doctor. A 6 year old child is going to be shy, or hyper, or talkative, the list goes on and on......depends on their mood, why they thing they are there, and their "personality" when meeting someone for the first time. Takes time for a child to warm up and "be themselves." Often, as with most of the kids of members here, odd is an umbrella term that includes a list of behaviors that often encompass other diagnosis's.

It is also not uncommon for your son to be a different child at home from the child he presents at school (mine was the opposite - trouble at school not at home).

Don't give up. You've found a great place to gather information and get the comfort of knowing you are not alone!

The weekends tend to be a little slow around here, but I'm sure others will be along shortly that can identify to what your son is going through.

Sharon
 

Josie

Active Member
Welcome to the Board.

You say that your son was diagnosis'ed with food allergies as a baby. Does he still have them? How is he being treated for them?

I'm asking because my daughter was a lot like your son at that age. She met all the criteria for ODD. When she was 10, we found out if she eliminated gluten and milk form her diet, she was a completely different child. Now, at 13, she is actually a pleasure to be around most of the time. She will sometimes cheat on her diet and we are all reminded just what it used to be like.

A lot of us here think that ODD is a symptom of an underlying disorder. In my daughter's case, it was food allergies. If you can find out what causes it, a lot of times the ODD will improve or go away.
 

RWHangel

New Member
I full heartedly agree. Mine is 6 and has been seeing a psychologist for almost a year and it even took her 8 months to warm up and really start showing her butt. The differance I think is that by age 3 I knew something was wrong when she was expelled from daycare for threatening the safety of the teachers. in my opinion we are all mothers with a wonderful gift called intuition. If your gut tells you something isn't right it usually isn't. Check out the foods he is eating and try elimanting them from his diet and maybe some excercise. I have found that when mine goes to karate classes and runs around outside it helps wear her down. Again though I knew by 3 there was something just off with her. Just trust your gut and listen to the advice of these ladies and pray. Everything will work out eventually.
 

lovelyboy

Member
Thanx for your support!I don't know what happend but whe had a better day yesterday! My ds woke up and said that he wants to make my day special! And he realy tried his best. This does give me hope....:D

He is still allergic to 5 of the 8 top allergens and I must say, we went all over the top with eating the wrong' things the last 3 weeks...Maybe this is also why he is so tearfull the last few weeks?

He is on so many antihistamines and cortizones and steroids for his asthma and allergies, I thought of asking the dr if we could stop the Singulair, because some parents say that this drug increased their childs aggression and irritibilities....
 
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