I feel like ODD being an official disorder in the DSM should be the thing that makes everyone go “hm” about how psychology is practiced
[looking a child directly in the eye] i diagnose you with Shitty Bitch Syndrome. this makes it legal to do medieval german tortures to you by the way
cmon man
Hi I have an undergrad psych degree! I also have ADHD! In my motherfucking TEXTBOOK, the authors said, “Research describes ADHD as a neurodevelopmental disorder in the same vein as Autism. We are putting the (miniscule) section on ADHD in the same chapter as ODD, though, because we believe really these disorders both boil down to ✨️ people not doing what we tell them to because they are lazy✨️”
So my actual TEXTBOOK admitted that it was biased and teaching these disorders based on opinion and not up to date research. And, as described above, the section on ODD was basically just, “these are bad kids. We will not look into why or how or what comorbidities exist and we will also not be exploring the possibility of ODD really being a manifestation of trauma/undiagnosed adhd/autism/pathological demand avoidance/persistent drive for autonomy. We will however be mostly focusing on how annoying these kids are to their parents and teachers ✨️”
It’s fucking crazy. “Yeah we know lots of people with autism struggle to follow demands. They may either ignore/not register demands or have meltdowns when demands are placed. They may engage in physical aggression, verbal aggression, and property desctruction when directed to complete tasks or be exposed to uncomfortable sensory input. They may need to know the why behind demands and consequently argue with authority figures. They may be easily upset by sensory input or social interactions and have emotional outbursts when pushed beyond their limits. Some children with autism seek attention and may engage in maladaptive behaviors to elicit the attention of peers and caregivers if positive attention is not given freely/if they are ignored when behaving appropriately. All of these are symptoms of their underlying neurological differences and should be met with compassion and understanding. They are not bad children. Their brains process information differently and therefore they have executive functioning, sensory processing, and emotional regulation challenges that cause these behaviors.
Those kids over there? Yeah they have all the same symptoms but they are just Morally Wrong and Bad Children. They have Oppositional Defiance Disorder. How can I tell? Well that one hand flaps and that one doesn’t.”
When I was younger, I was the Problem Child. I was the one who got into fights, got kicked out of school, was constantly screaming and crying and arguing and getting in trouble and doing “bad” things like being too loud and not paying attention. I was also going through an immense amount of trauma. I was diagnosed with ODD at a very early age.
When I got older, matured, and got out of the traumatic situation, I taught myself how to regulate (Yes, taught MYSELF. Surprisingly enough the strategy of “punish until the behavior stops” wasn’t very effective). It took very little time for teachers and authority figures to start insisting I get an autism diagnosis once I calmed down. Well, I did. Also ended up being diagnosed with PTSD, ADHD, OCD, anxiety, and depression at roughly the same time.
What a shock. The bad kid stops doing the things you don’t like and suddenly you’re paying close enough attention to recognize symptoms of an underlying problem. And yet nobody though to consider that these circumstances may have been linked to each other, they just starting patting themselves on the back for dealing with me and noticing the issues I had.
How different would my life have looked if the authority figures paid closer attention? If they made an effort and I got the accommodations I needed? How much better could I be doing, even now, if I’d had more time to heal, rather than have someone holding the wound open while wondering why it wouldn’t go away?
Children are not inherently evil because they do bad things. They seek attention and you only give it to them when they misbehave. Kids are kids, special needs or not, and a developing mind still requires positive reinforcement. Do better.
