ODD

[Jorge51]

My 6yr grandson diagnosed with ADHD and full function autism is improving. However he still needs help in social skills. I came across a very informational article. It describes my grandson problems. Has anyone experienced or treated their love one for Oppositional Defiances Disorder (ODD). I need information.

[Bingo3000]

Hi, My 8 yo son was diagnosed with ADHD and ODD when he was 5, but honestly I knew he had ODD from the time he was 2. It is very common for those who have ODD to also have ADHD. It is very, very hard. My son will NEVER just take a “no”, and everything is a struggle as his first instinct is to be defiant to every request and situation. He enjoys annoying/poking people, and will have violent outbursts if things aren’t done his way. Don’t get me wrong, he can also be sweet, and loving— but it can change in an instant. My son takes concerta for ADHD and for the past year 2.5 mg of Aripiprazole for the ODD, both with varying degrees of efficacy.

I think the most important thing for ODD is therapy (which he has done since 5) , and managing your reactions and responses to their behavior (oh so very hard at times). It is our lives mission right now to ensure his ODD does not turn into conduct disorder.

[Jorge51 in reply to Bingo3000]

Thank you! Do u know if there is a support group? Please

[Bingo3000 in reply to Jorge51]

There is a support group on Reddit. This is the only group I am aware of online, but there are probably others. Also, you can look into local in person support groups, Having an ODD child or grandchild can be very isolating and the groups definitely help. I should also mention that I feel like my comments are a little bit “me, me, me” like it’s hard for me or the rest of the family, and it is, but I want to point out that it is difficult and hard for the ODD child as well. They can experience a great deal of remorse, regret, and depression due to their actions… not that it will stop it from happening again, but they can be/are aware of their lack of control and their extreme reactions… and it’s hard and isolating for them as well. In short, it sucks for everbody!

Here is a link to the Reddit group, of which I am a member. reddit.com/r/ODDSupport/

Good luck!

[Angel533 in reply to Bingo3000]

his odd doesn't turn into conduct disorder!!! I don't know much about this but I didn't know one could turn into the other, you really do learn something new everyday, my son has ADHD, ODD and CD he was on medication growing up but I never really looked into the odd or CD side of it, I always concentrated on his adhd and learned what works for him and what doesn't but I think I'll look into the other's too even if it is a bit late since he's now 22 going on 5😂

[Aspen797]

Hi! My son has high functioning autism and ADD. He is 12 now, but when he was young it was very, very challenging. I was very worried that he also had/ was developing ODD. Several things helped—time, maturity; being prescribed guanfacine (huge!); and as parents learning and using positive parenting (ABA informed). Our son’s lack of perspective taking when he was little caused him a lot of anxiety as he never understood the motives of other children and would misperceive accidents as intentional acts, etc. Sensory issues also caused anxiety. That anxiety manifested as a lot of oppositionality. We found ourselves often in a spiral where our gentle correcting his misbehavior led to him becoming more defiant. ABA positive parenting really helped stop that spiral. We started relying heavily on written schedules to show what is expected at certain times, using a first you do this and then you get that system that is automatically reinforcing for all typical demands, rewarding common, expected behaviors (marble jar) and a lot of planned ignoring. That combined with guanfacine (and social skills classes through autism center) really helped. Something else to look into is the work by Dr. Richard Frye on Leucovorin and children with Autism. He has found a connection between genetic abnormaties in central folate processing and children with autism. In some children, correcting the deficiency with leucovorin has led to pretty big changes in irritability—See-phoenixchildrens.org/blog/2....

[Klmamma in reply to Aspen797]

Is the guanfacine the only medication your son takes? Is it still working??? Mine sounds exactly like yours.

[Aspen797 in reply to Klmamma]

Our son takes guanfacine, Focalin, and vitamins. He was prescribed Focalin first. The Focalin did help, but there were unwanted side effects—loss of appetite, skin picking, and eventually tics. When the tics occurred we stopped the Focalin (it was, blessedly, the end of the school year) and began guanfacine. That summer was amazing! While the Focalin had helped with impulsivity and focus, he had still struggled with emotional regulation and irritability. The guanfacine completely evened that out. He was sweet, funny, and easy to get along with but still 100% himself! Unfortunately when school began he had a really tough time focusing and impulsivity was still an issue. We couldn’t go it alone on the guanfacine as much as we wanted to. We found our “sweet spot “ with low dose Focalin and guanfacine. The guanfacine cancels out almost all the negatives of the Focalin. The only tricky thing with guanfacine is finding a very experienced doctor to prescribe as our son needed a VERY gradual increase in dosage. When we switched to a higher dose too quickly, it affected his sleep (night waking). With very gradual titration he was able to increase the guanfacine without night waking. With the right nutrients and the right medications, he is doing great right now 🤞.

I forgot to add that he only takes the Focalin on school days and if he has a big homework project—not on weekends, summers, or holidays unless he needs to focus for a class

[Klmamma in reply to Aspen797]

Thank you. This is beyond helpful.