successful treatments for ODD?

overmyhead

New Member
Hi, I am the mother of a seven year old and a five year old. My five year old has had behavioral issues that have caused problems at school and at camp. The more I research the more I am finding that ODD fits him to a tee. We have an appointment with a counselor (not sure of her exact degree, but was recommended by a friend) in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I was wondering what have been the most successful treatments for ODD? I could really use some hope right now as we just had a very bad morning. THanks for any input.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Why don't you tell us more about your child, especially her early development like speech, eye contact, mimicking people, temperament, obsessions, trouble transitioning etc. ODD is not a useful diagnosis and does not normally stand by itself. There is no treatment for it except behavioral methods that usually don't work. The best you can do in my opinion is have a neuropsychologist evaluation to see what is causing the ODD behavior. Then you can have a clear plan that goes deeper than just trying charts, etc. that probably will not touch the root cause of his behaviors. Any psychiatric problems on either side of the family tree? Autism/Aspergers? "Funny" relatives? "Slow" relatives who really are not slow, but just quirky?
 

overmyhead

New Member
ok, so when he was an infant, after he was fed, he didn't really like to be held and would arch his back to go back into his bassinet to sleep. If he got injured, he would rarely let me comfort him (this has been the case since he was little until present) He would instead get angry at the nearest person. He would blame them even though they might be across the room. One time he spilled milk and blamed God because "God does everything" He often times would not ackowledge a person who says "hello" or ''good morning" Some trouble with eye contact. He loses his temper over very little things. I had an occupational therapist check him out and he seemed to think that he has some sensory issues. I totally agree with that as he seems very sensitive to light and sound. He doesn't really hug or show affection, but he will sit on your lap to watch tv and will sit next to you. His main thing is that he always seems so quick to be angry. He also went through a long period of telling me he hated me every day (in the beginning we let him do that because we didn't want to stifle his feelings, but we got sick of it and told him he's not allowed to do it anymore. We had to go through several days of many time outs before he would stop) As far as family history: yes I think I have several relatives that were a little "asbergery". I think my husband has more mood swings than is normal. So that's the beginning of my description. My main concern is that any little thing could set him off and then he goes ballistic - he will attack any one who he perceives has slighted him in the least. Thanks for listening
 

SRL

Active Member
Hi Overmyhead,

Two books that we recommend to new parents here:
"What Your Explosive Child Is Trying to Tell You: Discovering the Pathway from Symptoms to Solutions" by Dr. Douglas Riley

"The Explosive Child" by Ross Greene (be sure and read the thread about this book on the top of this forum).

While I know that you'd want help focusing on what's setting him off, but often the key to addressing the explosivenes is determining the issue or issues at the root of the problem. For instance, a child who has constant low level sensory issues is understandably going to be touchier because they live life with a constant assault on their sensory systems. A child who is Asperger-ish may not understand that the explosions aren't acceptable, may not care, or may need more time and training than the typical child to handle situations in an acceptable manner. These sorts of issues can be addressed through avenues like speech and social skills training but that would involve assessment and the creation of a treatment plan. Doctors usually won't have much luck treating a set of symptoms unless they have a good idea what the underlying causes are and treating behavioral issues is no different.

Hope this helps.
SRL
 

Mandy

Parent In Training
I would definitly get in somewhere for an evaluation so you know what direction to head in. Little Bear displayed LOTS of ODD behaviors but those have gradually been improving since getting his medications right. His pedi also told me that Behavioral Management Therapy could help a child without a disorder but almost never works with difficult child's.

I also read the books SRL mentioned and they did help me with my perspective on parenting and diciplining.
 

claire

New Member
I would definitly get in somewhere for an evaluation so you know what direction to head in. Little Bear displayed LOTS of ODD behaviors but those have gradually been improving since getting his medications right. His pedi also told me that Behavioral Management Therapy could help a child without a disorder but almost never works with difficult child's.

I also read the books SRL mentioned and they did help me with my perspective on parenting and diciplining.

Well, i have three children. My five year old is the one with ODD. With the little support we have at the moment and a lack of knoweledgeof the condition things are misunderstood and out of control.. Any ideas?
 

overmyhead

New Member
Thank you for your replies. We found out he is allergic to several foods and we are eliminating them from his diet. Gluten is one of his allergies and it takes up to three months to see changes. Also, I have been spending the past week with him just one on one which is attention he has never gotten. Behavior is much better this week, but I have also been making a point of doing the activities he wants to do. I have both those books, plus Dr. Bock's book. I think he has sensory issues along with some defiance issues as outlined in Dr. Riley's book. We are all a work in progress.
 

Josie

Active Member
Wishing you luck with the gluten free diet. My daughter has been on it for over 3 years and does not have ODD any more, unless she has been cheating on her diet. I can always tell when she has! Luckily, she gets over it in a few days and is back to being easy going. She was never easy going back in the days of eating gluten.

I thought I could tell within the first few days for her, but it is hard to know when it is someone else. We ended up having to give up milk for her also.

I am also on the girlfriend diet and it has improved my mental health. From my own experience, I think it is very important to be extremely strict about following it in order to see the full benefit. Even a trace amount will affect my mood, in an extreme way, for several weeks.

If you haven't already seen it, www.glutenfreeforum.com, is a great resource for the gluten free diet.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I would take him to a neuropsychologist. If you have relatives who seem like they have Aspergers, they might. He sounds a lot like a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) kid to me. They are often mistaken for ODD. The lack of cuddling and poor eye contact and exploding for reasons YOU don't understand are red flags. Please try to find out the reason behind the ODD behavior. Often, with the right help, the child will be ok. Without help, it could get worse. Have him completely evaluated. Good luck, whatever you decide. If he has Aspergers, that requires many interventions, even though the kids are very smart.
 
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