My DS (aged 7) has been referred for assessments for ASD and ADHD and we had the forms through to complete today.
He’s always been a bit of a question mark as he has no delays, but he has had trouble following some rules and sitting still enough at school to warrant us seeking a diagnosis, in the hope that any support he needs will be in place in secondary school.
The ODD boxes on the form got me thinking. He displays some of the behaviours like arguing with adults (ie DP and I and he will answer back to teachers sometimes too, in response to requests or to being told off), and he is a big wind up merchant, mostly with his younger siblings but he does push DP and I, and I think he has done in the past with teachers.
He’s not aggressive though, and he doesn’t have an awful temper, although I would describe him as touchy and irritable if the wrong thing happens. He also freely says sorry, when he’s been rude or defiant and he gets a “look”. Defiance is a key theme that’s been there since nursery though, refusing to comply with some rules if he didn’t want to.
I’m wondering how extreme behaviour needs to be to be classed as ODD? I have looked at threads on here and it seems quite extreme, lives turned upside down etc. We are able to carry on a normal life and DS participates in clubs happily enough (although not always the most proactive/good at listening).