Oppositional Defiant Disorder

1. Oppositional Defiant Disorder In the Classroom A Mini Expert Presentation Tara Carroll

2. What is a Behavioural Disorder? The ministry defines students who require behaviour supports as those “whose behaviours reflect dysfunctional interactions between the student and one or more elements of the environment, including the classroom, school, family, peers and community.” Students who require Moderate Behaviour Support demonstrate one or more of the following: • behaviours such as aggression (of a physical, emotional or sexual nature) and/or hyperactivity; • behaviours related to social problems such as delinquency, substance abuse, child abuse or neglect. British Columbia Ministry of Education Special Education Services: A Manual of Policies, Procedures and Guidelines

3. Identification To be identified in the category Moderate Behaviour Support or Mental Illness, students must also meet the following criteria: • the frequency or severity of the behaviours or negative internalized states have a very disruptive effect on the classroom learning environment, social relations or personal adjustment; and • they demonstrate the above behaviour(s) or conditions over an extended period of time, in more than one setting and with more than one person (teachers, peers); and • they have not responded to support provided through normal school discipline and classroom management strategies. British Columbia Ministry of Education Special Education Services: A Manual of Policies, Procedures and Guidelines

4. What is Oppositional-Defiant Disorder? Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is listed under the category of Disruptive Behaviour Disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Itis characterized by a persistent pattern of developmentally inappropriate, hostile, defiant, and disobedient behaviour which goes beyond the bounds of normal childhood behaviour.

5. Typical Characteristics A child diagnosed with Oppositional-Defiant Disorder •  often loses temper • often argues with adults • often actively defies or refuses to comply with adults' requests or rules • often deliberately annoys people • often blames others for his or her mistakes or misbehaviour • is often touchy or easily annoyed by others • is often angry and resentful • is often spiteful or vindictive

6. Challenges Associated with ODD Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder typically have difficulty establishing and maintaining good relationships with parents, teachers, and peers. It can be associated with several negative outcomes during adolescence and adulthood, such as greater risk of academic difficulties and failure, substance abuse, juvenile delinquency, and increased risk for mental disorders throughout adulthood. If no attempts are made towards managing disruptive behaviours during childhood, the problem will worsen over time and could lead to the development of bipolar disorder, multiple anxiety disorders, and depression.

7. Socio-Emotional Impacts Peers will unknowingly reinforce a child’s disruptive and aggressive acts by backing down. Other students will begin to recognize the deviant behaviour and will usually reject and alienate the student. Others are often frightened of the child due to their aggressive and hostile nature, making it difficult to establish and maintain friendships. .

8. Learning Impacts There is often a negative relationship between the child and his or her teacher, characterized by coercion, disobedience, non-compliance, and punishment. Although there are no actual learning impairments associated with a behavioural disorders, the student will often fall behind in school as they get sent out of the class for their misbehaviour in the classroom.

9. Student Profile • 5 year old boy • Difficulty in the areas of social skills and self-regulation • Argumentative; often refuses to follow rules • Has little control over his emotions; loses temper easily • Difficulty understanding and following classroom rules, as well as his role and responsibility as a student • Physical aggression towards others: biting, kicking, hitting, spitting, pinching • Self-inflicted harm: began to bite himself rather than be physically aggressive towards others

10. Intervention Strategies • Discussion: encourage student to use words rather than actions • 3 Chance Contract/Time-Out • One-on-One support • Free-Time block in the afternoon • Toy/stress ball attached to belt loop

11. Invisible Strategies • “Good Behaviour Game” • promotes prosocial behaviour by rewarding good behaviour, placing accent on positive rather than negative. • It also allows for the interaction between disruptive and non-disruptive students by placing children into teams. The students are encouraged to praise good behaviours in their peers, and work together to prevent inappropriate behaviours since it would mean a loss for the team as a whole. • Acts of Kindness Wall • Students are encouraged to recognize acts of kindness around the school, and celebrate their peers each time they are observed going out of their way to do something kind. • Quiet Time • Students find their own space in the classroom to relax (lay down, read, draw, other quiet activities) while soft music plays in the background. As a group, they gather to do some breathing and stress-release exercises.

12. Reflection • The strategies set in place did evoke certain improvements in his behaviour, and the student is better able to control his physical aggression. • Invisible whole-class strategies had a higher success rate than the ones tailored specifically to the student. • By having the whole class participate, the student did not feel singled-out. • In the case of the specific strategies, the student often became upset as he did not understand why he was being punished for the same types of behaviours he had observed in other students in the classroom.

13. Looking Ahead • I will continue to support him in the area of self-regulation, and encourage his positive behaviour. • Since the student spent quite a bit of time outside of the classroom, he has fallen behind both socially and academically. My goal is to re-integrate him into the classroom full-time. This way I can support his learning, and he will learn more through socialization in being an active and valued member of the classroom community. • I will continue getting to know this student, and work towards building a more trusting and caring relationship. • Look for opportunities to showcase his strengths and explore his areas of interest in the classroom

14. Why? • Oppositional Defiant Disorder is a behavioural disorder, and the strategies set in place in order to best support the student are based on Behaviorist Theory – specifically operant conditioning, which focuses on reward and punishment. • In order to reinforce positive prosocial behaviours in the student, the strategies focus more on reward rather than punishment. Studies have shown that people respond better to reinforcement over punishment. Especially at such a young age, punishment will often lead to negative self-esteem as the child begins to believe they are “bad”. • Based on my experiences in the classroom, this has proven to be true for the student in question. We saw more success in whole class, reinforcement based strategies than we saw in the individual strategies that were set in place at the beginning of the year, which focused more on punishing the student for inappropriate behaviour.