We think he may have this but need to find ways to help him and his parents. They are beside themselves on how to handle this child. Its very hard to explain as I have onlymet the child once but talk on the phone with his grandmother .. my aunt.. about him alot and he is 2 knows his abc's can count to twenty knows his shapes and colors but when frustrated will come up to ya and say he is going to hit and bite and duz it and very hard to leave severe marks on them. they have tried redirecting and time out and many other things but nothing is working. Its like it dont phase him any suggestions would be helpful
tia

By Kaye on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 04:24 pm:

A 2 year old is way to young to diagnos as ODD. Sure there may be a problem, but any good psych or ped will suggest counseling first, some parenting courses designed to help "the spirited" child. Even with odd kids, meds do not become an answer until many years down the line. The schools first line of defense is behavior management. They need to look at their parenting and come up with some new strategies and be very very consistnet. A ped or a counselor can help suggest a course for help and guidance.

By Reds9298 on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 09:30 pm:

Definitely agree with Kaye. ODD is a serious diagnosis that should only be made by a professional, and IMO, only a psych quite honestly. My understanding of ODD however is that children who are diagnosed with it were showing signs at even a very early age. It's just difficult to diagnose so early because there's still so much development happening.

I have some old friends with a child who is ODD and their lives are literally a nightmare. He is in his teens now. It has almost wrecked their marriage and their whole family unit really, as they have another son who is fine. Knowing their experiences, I feel for anyone who has a child that's been diagnosed with ODD.

Best of luck to your friends. At that age, there are a million things to try that won't be easy to stick to as far as behavior mod goes.

By Mommmie on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 09:58 pm:

Here's a website for ODD support that includes a forum. One of the forums is for kids ages 5 and younger. Lots of great information at this site. My son does not have ODD, but I knew the prior owner of the board in real life.

www.conductdisorders.com

By Cat on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - 09:18 am:

Wow. Honestly, to me it sounds like he's a very intelligent 2yo that hasn't learned how to deal with frustration very well. I personally wouldn't jump to a dx of ODD just yet. There are a couple books I would recommend though. One is Raising Your Spirited Child Rev Ed: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, and Energetic. The other is The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children. As someone who's been through the ringer with my own child, with the alphabet soup of acronyms thrown about for the past 11 years (and he's only 13yo), we're just now starting to get somewhere. Every time we thought we've had the answer, something else comes up. If they truly believe it is ODD (or something else), please encourage them to take him to a pediatric psychologist or pediatric psychiatrist. A regular pediatrician isn't qualified to accurately diagnose mental health issues (imho). It is really smart to start looking now, though while he's still very young. Your cousin and aunt will really need to be finely in tune to this child, his moods and his behaviors, including stressors or "triggers". Of course, this is my totally unprofessional opinion. I'm not a doctor. Good luck and keep us updated on how he's doing.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - 01:35 pm:

I agree with Cat.. 110%.....

My DH has Schizo Affective Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Socia- Phobia, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and a bunch off little friends..... We believe it all started with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome that went untreated.. There is one thing about mental illness that people don't understand... One condition leads to others... Because they are ill, they pick up other issues.. Like... depression untreated becomes lets say social fear.. Socia-phobia because obsesive.. OCD becomes schizo paranoia. And the vicious cycle begins...

DH was improperly diagnosed for 11 years... It took him that long to trust me and the doctor to tell the whole truth behind his illness... He has been hospitalized 3 times for break downs.. The last was the worst and he is now considered permanently disabled... He is fighting to get his life back at this point.. He has been on disability for nearly 6 years..

I am telling you this because you need to understand that there is no easy fix... Life with someone that is mentally ill is a lot of work.. A lot of trial and error... And a lot of patients and love...

At this point I think that the parents need to get themselves into counseling with a person that deals with children that are mentally ill. The child is too young to get treatment but they can learn skills to deal with him... They have to learn how to deal with him so that they can work towards teaching him proper behavior and self control, self comforting skills... They can not just let this ride.. If he is emotionally ill then he will start picking up other symptoms..

This just breaks my heart.... They have to get treatment for themselves.. Even grandma if she is dealing with him on a regular bases should go to the counseling sessions.. They can teach them ways to cope with this and how to handle him... He has to be in emotional distress to be acting out like that... Poor little guy...

Tell them to get help... The sooner the better.. If they had bothered to help DH, he wouldn't be where he is today....