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<blockquote data-quote="buddy" data-source="post: 510793" data-attributes="member: 12886"><p>Hi Nikki. Sounds like a busy life! Welcome to our world of challenging kids. You will find that many of us will have questions because we really can relate (each in our own ways) and it will help us to share what we have experienced and you can then see if it would apply to your situation.</p><p></p><p>First, I am wondering what kind of doctor diagnosis the ODD? What kinds of assessments have you had done? Many of us here have kids who fit the ODD diagnosis but a large percentage of us have found that this diagnosis is really only saying that the child has a problem and it affects behavior. It does not lead to very many treatment methods nor does it help figure out what is causing those behavior challenges. As you have already found out... using traditional behavioral methods of rewards, punishments, time outs, earning things, even the room stripping and re-earning typically results in more frustration for our kids because the bottom line is something is going on that is preventing them from doing better. Either a lack of skills, a lack of organizational abilities in the brain to access the skills when needed, impulse control issues, misunderstanding of high level communication, neurological or developmental conditions or mental health conditions. Some kids have a few things going on.</p><p></p><p>So, before we talk medications (and my son uses that and yes we like it but for now....)</p><p></p><p>If she has not had a complete assessment of each developmental area....even if it is not obvious that there is a problem, that is a really important step. There is nothing worse than the feeling you get when you find out that you have missed something that can be helped with specific interventions, something that may be really subtle to the outside world and poopooed by doctors or teachers or therapists or mental health people....but ends up being a HUGE deal to your difficult child's development and coping abilities.</p><p></p><p>So, to start if you can possibly swing this try to get her a complete speech/language/social communication evaluation which should include looking at her ability to process sounds and language. You may need to also look into having her evaluated for auditory processing problems by a specific kind of audiologist who has an interest in this area (she can have perfect hearing but still have problems with the way the brain hears sounds in noisy settings or how it interprets sounds etc... my son has a language processing problem....so the words/sentences are heard but his brain does not hear them the way they are said)</p><p>Next, an Occupational Therapy (Occupational Therapist (OT)) evaluation to look at motor development (motor planning, fine motor development, etc...and they will be able to give an impression of a PT evaluation may be needed) along with sensory integration evaluations which will look at how she is able to take in sights, sounds, tastes, touch, smells..... some kids are sensitive, some kids seek them out because they are not registered and it can make kids look like they are being very oppositional and defiant when they have to fight through these issues... can also make them look like they have attention and hyperactivity issues. </p><p></p><p>While you are getting these done, in my humble opinion it would be really important to get an evaluation from a neuropsychologist (and some use a developmental pediatrician but neuropsychologist is what I have had best luck with). These folks are psychologists who have extra training in the brain and how it connects to behavior and moods...they can do a differential diagnosis or at least help identify the underlying challenges that are contributing to the ODD issues. Many of us do nto use the ODD diagnosis at all because to some people it can imply that the child is just willfully not obeying rules to get what they want when indeed they very very often are not ABLE to do better because they are lacking critical skills and abilities that would allow them to do better. It can look very deliberate but if they could do better then the punishment/reward thing would usually work. It can take a while to get into a neuropsychologist and when you do bring the Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) and Occupational Therapist (OT) results so they can put it all together. THEN you will know much better what you are dealing with (for now...as kids get older things do sometimes continue to reveal themselves).</p><p></p><p>I am sure others will add questions like these:</p><p>1. how was the pregnancy/birth history</p><p>2. is she adopted?</p><p>3. did she meet milestones for development on time or late or really early in some areas???</p><p>4. does she have any special interests that she likes way beyond a typical interest? (or a few things )</p><p>5. how does she do with friends? How is her play in general?</p><p>6. is there any mental health history in her bio family? (again not judgement, many of us can relate)</p><p>7. how is the academic part of school going? is she in special education or are they just accommodating things for you?</p><p></p><p>OK, so...the Clonidine is a blood pressure medication. My son uses a patch form of it. It helps reduce the aggression he can show. Once you start she may get light headed esp going from lying to sitting or sitting to standing...and do not stop it once she has been on it because it can cause a blood pressure spike and even strokes. But if it works, it is a great thing. Ultimately no medication fixes things in my humble opinion. It can put them in a place where we can work on skills.</p><p></p><p>Some books that may really help include...The Explosive Child by Ross Greene and What Your Explosive Child is trying to Tell You by Doug Riley (sp?)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="buddy, post: 510793, member: 12886"] Hi Nikki. Sounds like a busy life! Welcome to our world of challenging kids. You will find that many of us will have questions because we really can relate (each in our own ways) and it will help us to share what we have experienced and you can then see if it would apply to your situation. First, I am wondering what kind of doctor diagnosis the ODD? What kinds of assessments have you had done? Many of us here have kids who fit the ODD diagnosis but a large percentage of us have found that this diagnosis is really only saying that the child has a problem and it affects behavior. It does not lead to very many treatment methods nor does it help figure out what is causing those behavior challenges. As you have already found out... using traditional behavioral methods of rewards, punishments, time outs, earning things, even the room stripping and re-earning typically results in more frustration for our kids because the bottom line is something is going on that is preventing them from doing better. Either a lack of skills, a lack of organizational abilities in the brain to access the skills when needed, impulse control issues, misunderstanding of high level communication, neurological or developmental conditions or mental health conditions. Some kids have a few things going on. So, before we talk medications (and my son uses that and yes we like it but for now....) If she has not had a complete assessment of each developmental area....even if it is not obvious that there is a problem, that is a really important step. There is nothing worse than the feeling you get when you find out that you have missed something that can be helped with specific interventions, something that may be really subtle to the outside world and poopooed by doctors or teachers or therapists or mental health people....but ends up being a HUGE deal to your difficult child's development and coping abilities. So, to start if you can possibly swing this try to get her a complete speech/language/social communication evaluation which should include looking at her ability to process sounds and language. You may need to also look into having her evaluated for auditory processing problems by a specific kind of audiologist who has an interest in this area (she can have perfect hearing but still have problems with the way the brain hears sounds in noisy settings or how it interprets sounds etc... my son has a language processing problem....so the words/sentences are heard but his brain does not hear them the way they are said) Next, an Occupational Therapy (Occupational Therapist (OT)) evaluation to look at motor development (motor planning, fine motor development, etc...and they will be able to give an impression of a PT evaluation may be needed) along with sensory integration evaluations which will look at how she is able to take in sights, sounds, tastes, touch, smells..... some kids are sensitive, some kids seek them out because they are not registered and it can make kids look like they are being very oppositional and defiant when they have to fight through these issues... can also make them look like they have attention and hyperactivity issues. While you are getting these done, in my humble opinion it would be really important to get an evaluation from a neuropsychologist (and some use a developmental pediatrician but neuropsychologist is what I have had best luck with). These folks are psychologists who have extra training in the brain and how it connects to behavior and moods...they can do a differential diagnosis or at least help identify the underlying challenges that are contributing to the ODD issues. Many of us do nto use the ODD diagnosis at all because to some people it can imply that the child is just willfully not obeying rules to get what they want when indeed they very very often are not ABLE to do better because they are lacking critical skills and abilities that would allow them to do better. It can look very deliberate but if they could do better then the punishment/reward thing would usually work. It can take a while to get into a neuropsychologist and when you do bring the Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) and Occupational Therapist (OT) results so they can put it all together. THEN you will know much better what you are dealing with (for now...as kids get older things do sometimes continue to reveal themselves). I am sure others will add questions like these: 1. how was the pregnancy/birth history 2. is she adopted? 3. did she meet milestones for development on time or late or really early in some areas??? 4. does she have any special interests that she likes way beyond a typical interest? (or a few things ) 5. how does she do with friends? How is her play in general? 6. is there any mental health history in her bio family? (again not judgement, many of us can relate) 7. how is the academic part of school going? is she in special education or are they just accommodating things for you? OK, so...the Clonidine is a blood pressure medication. My son uses a patch form of it. It helps reduce the aggression he can show. Once you start she may get light headed esp going from lying to sitting or sitting to standing...and do not stop it once she has been on it because it can cause a blood pressure spike and even strokes. But if it works, it is a great thing. Ultimately no medication fixes things in my humble opinion. It can put them in a place where we can work on skills. Some books that may really help include...The Explosive Child by Ross Greene and What Your Explosive Child is trying to Tell You by Doug Riley (sp?) [/QUOTE]
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