ODD & Autism

Our younger son is adopted. Not only does he have autism but he also has ODD - Oppositional defiant disorder amongst some other issues as well. As such life can be extremely difficult, especially the combination of these together... a very complicated mix. This last weekend was one such example of what can go so horribly wrong and one I hope is never repeated. Although as a result of the events of this weekend, hopefully we are finally going to get the help for him that he needs. I'd like to be able to say more to get it all out of my system, but don't feel it is appropriate on my blog but I wanted to assure my readers that it wasn't a health related issue. True I still haven't got my MRI/MRA results, but I'm taking the specialist's apathy for poor contact on the probability it didn't show anything significant wrong with my arteries in my shoulder. Which is good as it means I don't have to have another operation, but doesn't explain why I am still getting lots of problems!

Not having my Mum & Dad in the same country can be very hard as I/we have no one to turn to apart from my lovely MIL when things get tough.

Anyway a brief (?) synopsis of ODD taken from the internet.

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is a disorder where children have disruptive and oppositional behaviour that is particularly directed towards authority figures, such as parents or teachers.

Children with ODD are constantly defiant, hostile and disobedient. They don’t like responding to instructions or taking orders from others, and they actively refuse simple requests.
Sometimes they eagerly blame others for their own mistakes, can lose their temper easily, and act in an angry, resentful or touchy manner.

All children occasionally react in this way on a bad day or if upset by a situation, and many teenagers go through troublesome times. But children with oppositional defiant disorder are like this all the time, making them very hard to deal with.

Symptoms
The key behavioural symptoms of ODD are negative, hostile and defiant behaviour. For ODD to be diagnosed, symptoms have to have been present for at least six months and involve four or more of the following:
often loses temper
often argues with adults
often actively defies or refuses to comply with adults’ requests or rules
often deliberately annoys people
often blames others for his mistakes or misbehaviour
often touchy or easily annoyed by others
often angry and resentful
often spiteful or vindictive.
To be classified as ODD, the behaviour also has to have caused a significant degree of disturbance to home, social or school life.

How does it cause problems?
For parents, having a child with ODD can be very difficult. ODD children can vary from being mildly oppositional to always being hostile.

A child with ODD will:
deliberately take the most difficult path, eg to say ‘no’ on principle
enjoy challenging and arguing with people
refuse to do what he’s told.
It's common for a child with ODD to blame everyone else for his problems, and at his worst he can be angry, spiteful and vindictive.
These types of problem behaviours are typically directed towards parents and teachers, plus others in authority. Coping with a consistently disruptive attitude can be extremely frustrating and physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting.
Based on a text by Dr Dan Rutherford, GP

It can be so hard when you have so much love to give, but with difficulties such as ASD & ODD to contend with it often seems a continuous battle for want of a better word.

It is not all doom and gloom though - there are some moments in which he is an absolute darling and it is those moments we keep reminding ourselves of.