Opposition Defiant Disorder – it DOES exist

Opposition Defiant Disorder – it DOES exist

15th June, 2016 

Nick discusses Opposition Defiant Disorder and expels some myths surrounding it, as well as providing a strategy to assist pre-service teachers in teaching a child diagnosed with ODD.

I was watching an investigatory news show a while back and there was an article on Opposition Defiant Disorder (ODD). By the end of the article my friends on social media were posting their opinions on how they believe ODD is not actually a disorder; rather it is just terrible parents raising rude and obnoxious children. These posts were very interesting to me as there were many misconceptions surrounding this relatively new diagnosis. I wanted to create this post to expel some of the common misconceptions that surround this particular disorder.

ODD is a child exhibiting ‘bad behaviour’, is quite often what people say to me when this topic comes up. One of the reasons why this cannot be the case is the fact it is NOT a one off behaviour. Symptoms of ODD are frequent and repetitive rather than a one off outbursts of anger. Children with ODD are seen to be constantly noncompliant and hostile towards others, especially adults. Children with ODD can also display violent and aggressive behaviour towards peers or adults.

As a future teacher what can I do to assist these children to make my classroom run smoothly?

In my opinion the most important thing you can do for a child with ODD is have clear and explicit expectations and consequences for particular actions. If these expectations are breached a consequence such as, being removed from the learning space to deescalate the behaviour is an effective way to calm the child down. After the teacher consistently removes the child from the space they will know when they have breached expectations and begin remove themselves without having to be asked. In doing this, it is teaching the child which behaviours are appropriate and inappropriate. It is also important to let the child choose when they are ready to rejoin the rest of the class without the teacher demanding them to come back. By allowing the child to choose when they want to rejoin the class it is teaching the child the skill of self-regulation, as well as teaching them to own their own behaviour.

A process like this can take time to establish and relies on the teacher being patient and being prepared to follow through EVERY time an unwanted behaviour is exhibited. It is also important to have a conversation with the child when they have calmed down and explain to them why they were asked to leave the space and why their behaviour was inappropriate. This is a further way of the children taking responsibility for their own behaviour.

Remember as graduate teachers you are not alone! There are always more experienced teachers willing to help you with students who may be demonstrating these types of behaviour or have been diagnosed with ODD. Another important idea to remember is to never take behaviour personally. It is documented that children feel and then act without self-regulating; this can be amplified in children with ODD. It is our responsibility as educators to teach our students the skill of self-regulation.

Another great way to assist those children is to liaise with their parents. Having consistent approaches to behaviour management between the home and school environment can have positive outcomes on a child’s social learning.

- Nick