I am starting this blog for parents that have a child with a diagnosis of ODD or otherwise known as Oppositional Defiant Disorder. 

Let’s start out with my story.  My son is 7 years old and has a diagnosis of ADHD, ODD and Anxiety.  The ADHD and Anxiety I have no problems dealing with however the ODD can be very challenging and frustrating for many parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and grandparents that maybe in the child’s life.  This kind of child takes a lot of attention and a lot of energy on the parent’s part.  My son Kaleb was diagnosed on his 7th birthday with ADHD with some behavioral problems only because of the paperwork myself and his teacher filled out.  During this time we started trying different medications that would help Kaleb concentrate at school and wear off at night. These medications worked for a little bit, however I noticed as Kaleb was weaning off his medications at night he would get very aggressive and very angry.  I tried to explain to his primary doctor what his behaviors were like at home but she did not want to put Kaleb medications at night as he already was having issues going to bed, and staying asleep throughout the night. 

During one of Kalebs therapy appointments he goes to weekly, his therapist asked we get Kaleb tested for more as she thought the ADHD diagnosis was not the extent of issues going on in Kalebs mind.  Getting Kaleb into to get a NuroPsych Evaluation took a very long time as many psychiatrist do not do them on children and the clinic I did end up taking him to turned out to be a four month wait for appointments. During the time we were waiting for his testing Kaleb was going to weekly therapy sessions a long with Occupational Therapy to help with some of his sensory issues and fine motor skills that he was lacking. 

 Kalebs NeuroPsych testing was consistent over 4 appointments.  The first one was just me alone with no Kaleb and me answering a bunch of questions such as family history, family dynamics, how he gets along with kids his own age etc... After that Kaleb went through 2, two-hour sessions that tested his attention span, his IQ, how he thinks about himself.  The tests were very hard and Kaleb would come out of these sessions very agitated and more than likely we had to pull the car over so Kaleb could release his anger while I was not driving.  The psychologist also gave me some paper work and sent his 1st grade teacher a packet on things she observes in the class room.  During the last session of testing Kaleb was showing to be very defiant and when he was done testing I was allowed to go back in the room and while I was answering some miscellaneous questions the tester had Kaleb got very agitated to the point of him purposely trying to break the examiners trash can, toys she used during the testing, he tried to throw his shoes at her, and started to hit, kick, punch and try to bite me.  He had a huge meltdown to the point of the clinical director had to come see if we needed any help with Kaleb.  As a parent I was beyond mortified, but as someone who wanted someone to finally see what I was trying to explain the behaviors were at home I was so relieved that it was finally documented and a "professional" saw why I brought Kaleb in.

 Two weeks after the last appointment I went back on my own and got the test results. Some of it I did not understand but the psychiatrist explained very well on what some of the numbers meant and what the "normal" range was for a child Kalebs age.  The one regret I wish I would have done during this time was to write notes on my copy so I could remember what the numbers meant when I went back to re-read the report. So now I have his report that documents all of his behavior so I fax it to all I can think of, his therapist, his OT, his school teacher and his Primary Medical Doctor. 

 Then next day we went to his primary doctor who also got to witness Kaleb's aggressive behaviors, and said she could not do Kaleb's medications anymore and suggested we go to a child psychiatrist.  The one thing wrong with all of this is that child Psychiatrist is very few and they are very hard to get into.  I called in April to get Kaleb in for his psychiatrist and was able to get him in July 26th.  Luckily Kaleb's primary gave him Clonidine for the aggressions and stopped giving him his ADHD medications with refills until we are able to get in with the psychiatrist.  

This is just the start to our story and it will be never ending.  The best I can tell you parents and wonderful other family members is that you are not alone and remember they child is still a child and they are struggling more than us trying to care for them.  My son will sometimes state that he cannot control his body and does not know why, and other times he will black out and not know what he is doing until he snaps out of his behavior and is wondering how he ended up where he did.  This blog is so many of you can go through this process with someone or just want to know more about what works and does not work for us.