O.D.D.

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Home : 2003 : February : 28

O.D.D.
By Cathy-Dee

Like all disorders there can be over-diagnosis of this one. But after having dealt with an O.D.D. child I can honestly say there is something to this disorder. Yes the behaviour is learned or at least is a response to things
in their lives. Often we only see the tip of the ice-berg and we haven't seen the full picture with these kids. My student had been abused by his father from toddler age upwards until he was removed from the home and placed in foster care. The anger, hurt, depression, etc., this child was had was all put outward in his behaviour. And he was a hand-ful to say the least. He had

excellent foster parents and even with all the guidelines and supports in place it was difficult to control him or to help him change.

I do think there are some children who are simply spoiled or who have gotten their way since they were born basically who develop behaviour problems and are labelled ODD without really getting to the core of the problem.

But regardless of what we think about this disorder - children who are labelled it tend to be extreme behaviour students who do need a ton of support.

The first thing I'd be doing is getting him tested through the school system and getting some funding for him if you can. If you can get a TA in your room to deal with his outbursts, etc., or who can take over your class if you need to deal with him you will find your stress level greatly reduced.

I had a lot of of help with my ODD student. These were some of the things I learned that might work with yours.

1) Don't argue with them - you won't win. They can argue the sky is purple for months on end if they choose to.

2) Redesign your classroom so that you can have a quiet corner that is partitioned off from the rest of the class. Many of these students thrive on an audience - so if the audience is removed they tend to calm down. I didn't make this a punishment area - but an area they could even choose to go to if they knew they needed a break. However if I moved my child into this area he knew the next step was a talk with me in the hallway and then to the office.

3) A lot of their behaviour is because they want attention and they don't care if it's negative or positive. So I made sure my student was in my pathway - so it would be easy for me to stop by his desk often to see what he was doing and to comment on his work. This often kept him calm for much longer periods of time. Typically for many of us when the kids are quiet and working we don't tend to focus on them as much. So for an ODD child who is being calm and quiet we need to focus on them even more to reinforce this behaviour.

3) Often they have excess energy - so find ways to let him get that energy out. Send him to the office with notes, get a TA to take him to the gym to run a few laps or outside to do the same.

4) If colouring will keep him quiet then let him do it. Your other students are smart enough to realize that some students may not be able to do what they can do. You can always send him out with another teacher for a short while and have a talk with your class. They all know he is not behaving like a typical student and I'm sure are frustrated at times as well. Although I have found students are much more accepting and resilent than we give them credit for.
- tell them that he may not always do the same work as they do and while they might want to do the same they still have to do the work you ask them to do because it will help them with their learning for their next grade level. Give them hints as well - do not argue with him. If he is having a bad day give him space, etc.,

And use the office especially if you don't have TA help. When he gets out of control - call the office and have someone come to help out. Or at the very least send him to the office when he gets out of hand. If they see him enough they will get tired of it and perhaps find a creative way to get you the help you need.