Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) Support Group
Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) an ongoing pattern of disobedient, hostile, and defiant behavior toward authority figures that goes beyond the bounds of normal childhood behavior. When a child cannot seem to control his anger or frustration, even over what seems to be trivial or simple to others, the child will often react in violent or negative ways to his own...
My 4 year old nephew has his follow-up pysch eval in two days.
BACKGROUND: At his first psych visit a few months ago, the psych sympathized with the hardships he causes at home, but said medication was not an option since he was not exhibiting at school. She didn't want to medicate a child for ADHD in the afternoon when the school's structure kept him (mostly) under control. She felt that although ODD was diagnosed too often, in my nephew's case it seemed valid. My nephew was nonverbal until 3 years old. He was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder and Autism at 18 months after which he received Early Intervention Services (ABA, OT, PT, ST). Most of those services have been removed as he excelled physically and intellectually. He gets "counseling" twice a week but not sure that's really having an impact. Fast forward these past couple of months and my nephew has become increasingly violent. He hurt 4 children this past weekend at a birthday party. Last week, he threw an outburst at his special needs Pre-K and trashed the classroom. They had to remove the other students and the electronics. He then climbed a desk and tried to reach a window saying he was going to kill himself. When the school psych brought him to the hallway to redirect him, he ran away and tried to fling himself down the stairwell.
Sooooooo, for this psych appointment on Wed we will now have ample school evidence of his disruptions, and we are thinking they might want to medicate. MORE IMPORTANTLY, in a few months he will have his Kindergarten IEP meeting.
MY QUESTION: What services did you advocate for in an elementary school setting? We already have the Pre-K on board to insist he goes to an ICT (co-teaching) classroom. I told my sister to insist on a one on one para who can remove him if he gets violent, possibly take him to a calming corner, etc. I don't even know if that is possible, but I want to start thinking ahead of what could be in place to ease the transition to Kindergarten (new commute, new school). We have tried sensory toys to deal with anger, like things he can squeeze instead of hitting. He just breaks them and anything else in his path during the rage. My sister is trying 123 Magic...so so results. His latest thing is that he is running away outside. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
BACKGROUND: At his first psych visit a few months ago, the psych sympathized with the hardships he causes at home, but said medication was not an option since he was not exhibiting at school. She didn't want to medicate a child for ADHD in the afternoon when the school's structure kept him (mostly) under control. She felt that although ODD was diagnosed too often, in my nephew's case it seemed valid. My nephew was nonverbal until 3 years old. He was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder and Autism at 18 months after which he received Early Intervention Services (ABA, OT, PT, ST). Most of those services have been removed as he excelled physically and intellectually. He gets "counseling" twice a week but not sure that's really having an impact. Fast forward these past couple of months and my nephew has become increasingly violent. He hurt 4 children this past weekend at a birthday party. Last week, he threw an outburst at his special needs Pre-K and trashed the classroom. They had to remove the other students and the electronics. He then climbed a desk and tried to reach a window saying he was going to kill himself. When the school psych brought him to the hallway to redirect him, he ran away and tried to fling himself down the stairwell.
Sooooooo, for this psych appointment on Wed we will now have ample school evidence of his disruptions, and we are thinking they might want to medicate. MORE IMPORTANTLY, in a few months he will have his Kindergarten IEP meeting.
MY QUESTION: What services did you advocate for in an elementary school setting? We already have the Pre-K on board to insist he goes to an ICT (co-teaching) classroom. I told my sister to insist on a one on one para who can remove him if he gets violent, possibly take him to a calming corner, etc. I don't even know if that is possible, but I want to start thinking ahead of what could be in place to ease the transition to Kindergarten (new commute, new school). We have tried sensory toys to deal with anger, like things he can squeeze instead of hitting. He just breaks them and anything else in his path during the rage. My sister is trying 123 Magic...so so results. His latest thing is that he is running away outside. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
I was truly shocked by this and questioned it. They told me he didn't meet "County Criteria" for anything else. Luckily his teacher and the behavior therapist were great with him.
I know exactly what your sister is going through. Our son was suspended six times during his Kindergarten year. Mostly because he would become so uncontrollable (i.e. running around the room, taking other childrens' papers and ripping them up). One time he threw a chair in to a group of kids and injured one of the children.
My best advice is to have your sister push until they give your nephew what he needs. ODD/ADHD children in the school we went to didn't really qualify for any accommodations at all. I know a lot of the time the behavior therapist would go and get my son when he was having a meltdown and remove him from the class room to help him calm down. Sometimes it worked other times it made it worse.
Our experience was so terrible, I quit my job and started homeschooling when first grade started. That seems to be a better option for my son.
Lastly, have your sister look for a child advocate. IEP teams, in my experience, aren't quite so forthcoming about the rules and regulations and so your left trying to figure it all out. If she gets a child advocate than that person will be there during all the IEP sessions and advocate for your child along with you. The advocate knows what to ask for, how to ask for it and ensure your child gets the services he needs.
Good luck and I hope all works out.
Please encourage your nephew's parents to keep a very open mind about medication. Even though we made the leap with ADHD medication, we didn't want to try the more serious medication to temper his aggression/defiance. We wasted a lot of years when his quality of life could have been greatly improved. He went on Risperdal last year for an eating disorder and a bonus was the ODD disappearing. He was happy and pleasant. We only had to take him off it because his prolactin levels got elevated on it. I am still a fan of the med. Our son now is on Abilify and it's working just as well.
Honestly, I'm not sure what a school can do to deal with ODD. When our son's was at its worse, he was suspended twice in 3rd grade. He threw a chair one time and knocked over something and yelled at the teacher the other. He deserved to be suspended. Now, on Abilify, he's in so much more control over his behavior I would be floored if he even backtalked his teacher.