Aaaarrrgh - ODD anyone?

[Lyn]

My 13 year old son has ADHD, Aspergers Syndrome and ODD. Life is getting damn hard around here. We are trying Risperdal, Catapres and Epilem, but the oppositional behaviour is tearing us apart.

I would really like to talk to someone else who has had to deal with this - and find out how you cope.

Cheers

Lyn

[cigi922]

Hi Lyn
I FEEL ya girl !!!!! I'm about ready to pull my hair out as well. My son, (15) has ADHD and I think there is soooo much more going on w/ him. Someone has suggested ODD, and it seems to fit for the most part.

Can they test for this and determine if he has it ?? If so, what medicines help? My son will argue with Everything. If I say it's black - he's says white. The least little thing makes him explode. He fights about taking his ADHD medicine......always has. He says he can't stand the way it makes him feel.
I'm at a loss. He seems to not care about anything.......he's failing in school. He will take a multiple choice test and just fill in A,B,C,D,E...etc etc......all in order...never looking or reading the questions....it's so frustrating.
He lies, lies, lies......even about things that the truth would be better. Nothing is ever his fault......always someone elses.

I don't know what to do........

[Lyn]

Hi there
sorry you are having to face this monster too. It really is no fun at all. Has your boy been assessed for Asperger's Syndrome or Autism? My boy fits on the spectrum, but that manifests itself in lack of empathy and difficulty making (and keeping) friends.

I had a meeting with an AS specialist recently, and she thinks that one of the reasons he is so oppositional is that he can predict the outcome, and reaction and Asperger's kids like routine - but I don't know about that.

He has been uncooperative ever since I can remember, but now hormones have been added to the mix, it is a nightmare! :eek: Swearing at his father, his sister and me, arguing about EVERYTHING, yelling screaming, threatening physical harm (to us as well as himself) and generally being REALLY HARD TO GET ALONG WITH. He even told me that he would tell all his mates at school that he had caught me in bed with three men! I told him that unless his father had developed 'multiple personalities' it was a huge load of cr*p and nobody would believe him anyhow.

As far as I know, there is no definitive medical test for ODD, it is just done using clinical presentation to an assessing psychiatrist. Sounds like your boy would not like to have a professional trying to get into his mind. My boy also refuses to take Ritalin because it makes him feel too detached.

I found a great site about ODD last week - it really explains a lot and although long, it is worth reading:

http://www.klis.com/chandler/pamphlet/oddcd/oddcdpamphlet.htm

Hope it helps to answer some of your questions - I am still blindly grasping at straws for a good result.

Cheers

Lyn :)

[Lara]

Hi Lyn,
When my son was younger I guess he could have been called oppositionally defiant as well. He unfortunately wasn't correctly diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome until he was a little older than your son. He was diagnosed with a number of other conditions when he was little, but it wasn't until we got the AS diagnosis as well that I understood more about why he was behaving in certain ways. That's just my personal experience though.

I've found that he is still uncooperative to this day unless things are presented in the right way and I don't mean "his" way as in a selfish way, I mean in a way that he knows the boundaries and the boundaries are constant and that I ask him if he can do things in a non-confrontational manner or if I give directions precisely it will be reciprocated. It's really difficult to explain with words on a computer here plus it's only 6am so might have to come back later when I'm more awake, but just wanted to reply here.

I see you're an Australian too. If you haven't read it already, Tony Attwood has a great book called "Asperger's Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals". When things were really difficult and a little like you described in your post, I found it helpful to get some help from a psychologist. He helped my son and he also helped the family at the time. Social skills training is something else that would have helped at lot when my son was younger. I don't know if your son is doing that at all?

I wish everything that was happening for my son when he was little was not placed under one umbrella like... that behaviour is because of ADHD, or that behaviour is because of OCD or that behaviour is because he has Tourette Syndrome etc.. If I'd known he had Asperger's when he was tiny (and I did suspect it) there are many things I would have done differently as a parent. Parenting classes are fine I guess (did a few of them myself... some more than once, 'cause I figured I was getting it wrong or something) but the thing a lot of those classes don't quite "get" is that parenting a child on the autism spectrum is not the same as parenting a child who is not, and so it helps to find guidance on parenting issues from someone who knows about autism spectrum.

Not sure if any of that is any help. It's just a little of my own experiences here, that's all.

There's a million different resources out there. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what is going on for our own children sometimes because everyone is so different and especially so when there is more than one condition influencing the child's makeup or behaviour. Good luck with it all, but do get help if you are needing it.

http://www.tonyattwood.com.au/

[PMM]

Hi though he isn't DX my youngest certainly has ODD tendancies. Do a goolge on pyroluria. It's a B6 and zinc deficiency. My oldest and youngest have it. My oldest was out of control, melt downs, obstinant, anxious, etc. to the point that we were going to have to take him to a psych or have him commited. He takes a supplement regimen for his ADHD anyway so I felt that it wasn't out of the realm of possiblities that he had pyroluria. I checked with the dr and started him on 50mgof B6 and 25mg of zinc. Within 3 days we had a different kid. He noticed the difference and so did his friends. Though I never had him tested I understand there is a urine test for it.

Pat

[Lyn]

Thanks Pat

It would be fantastic if it could be fixed or improved naturally. I have never heard of pyroluria before. Life is bordering on impossible at the moment.

Lyn :)

[blackbelt1997]

I was diagnosed last year (as an adult) with ADHD. Sometimes the oppositional characteristics can be associated with ADHD. I have found that most of my oppositional tendencies are reduced when I take my ADHD meds.
I was extremely oppositional as a teenager. Oppositional sounds like a nice term for the behavior I exhibited... I was just plain bad. I'd pick fights with my sister and parents for no reason, hurt my sister (the police almost had to be involved), and would try to hurt my parents if they disciplined me (e.g., sent me to my room, grounded me, etc.). I was on Prozac for depression for a brief time, but this just made me more violent. My mom said that she and my dad were afraid to go to sleep some nights because they were afraid of what I'd do.
I think what helped the most was when my mom had me do some volunteer work, and enrolled me in a martial arts class. My volunteer work lead to me picking a career. When I had a goal of being a special ed. teacher, had an outlet for my frustrations, and parents that meant what they said, I was better able to control my behavior.