Helping a Child with Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Any parent that has a child with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) certainly has their work cut out for them. It becomes a daily battle which not only interferes with their day to day lives but with the lives of their families and anyone that is included in their daily routine.

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ODD children usually have hostile behavior towards anyone that’s in authority which really causes problems as the child grows. Some of the symptoms are; having temper tantrums during the day, arguing with adults, refusal and defiance when asked to follow rules, constantly trying to annoy and upset the people around them, never taking blame for anything they do wrong, they easily upset by others, they say hateful and mean things if they are upset and they always seek revenge.

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These symptoms may be more noticeable at home or in school. Of course it happens when the child plays but may not be as noticeable to other children. As time goes by most “normal” children will shun a child with ODD rather than try to play with them. This can be devastating to the child with ODD and he can internalize his feelings so that it can make the condition worse.

Parents with an ODD child find that all their time and efforts are taken up with trying to teach this child how to behave. If there are other siblings in the home they may be the receivers of the anger as well as the parents. This keeps the home in constant turmoil.
There are things that can be done to help your child and it takes a constant effort to accomplish this. When your child shows cooperation always praise him for this, even if it is a little flexibility. If you know that a conflict is coming, which the parent usually do, remove yourself from the situation for awhile before the conflict escalates. This way you are teaching your child a good behavior lessons. If your child takes their own time out support him in his decision.

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You know each day will bring constant battles so choose your battles carefully. All children with ODD have real problems avoiding power issues so be careful what you tell your child to do. If the battles you choose turns into a time out let the child know how long the time out will be. Don’t ever add more time than is necessary. If your child has other problems besides ODD they don’t always have a good concept of time. Our daughter who has a son with many problems bought a timer so that our grandson could visually see the time passing. Don’t impose a time out that is unreasonable. Always try to make it as short as you can and reinforce it with verbal comments. Don’t give a child a consequence that you can’t make them fulfill on a consistent bases.

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If you are like other parents you probably have more than one child in the home and this makes it a little more difficult. The child that has ODD sometimes demands all of your time but try and divide your attention equally. If you can find help from other services, it would help immensely, such as another parent, a teacher or a coach. Always try and take some time out for yourself. You are the one that is primary care giver for all your children and without you the whole family would suffer. For more information on ODD try this link.