Is anyone knowledgeable about ODD in a toddler?

chardonnay24

Hi all - can anyone tell me what ODD in a 2.5 year old looks like? We had a speech evaluation done at a private hospital and the results came today in the mail. She diagnosed delayed development and ODD and recommended 1x/week speech therapy. We have been working with an OT (for sensory) and an SLP with EI for over a year and this has not come up, although they do not make medical diagnoses. We also have been seeing a behavioral therapist 1/week for the last 6 months and she has not mentioned it, either.

From a quick Google search, it appears that children with ODD are temperamental, irritable, aggressive, and ignore or rebel against rules. We definitely have some behavior challenges, but I wouldn't say that he is a particularly angry child. He doesn't listen well, doesn't seem to understand consequences (natural or imposed), and hits and pushes children when aggravated. His behavior is often worse when he is overstimulated (a lot of kids/people, loud noises, a new environment). We've made great strides with the "aggressive" behavior, and he is now generally quick to apologize when he hits another child. He is generally a happy child, even when he is ignoring something that we ask him to do, he usually says, "no thanks" and goes about his business, rather than lashing out. He doesn't have huge meltdowns very often, and usually they are triggered by things like hunger or tiredness.

I kind of assumed this whole year that his behaviors were related to SPD or the speech delay or just being 2, but now I'm worried that it's something else. We will not see his regular pedi or developmental pedi until his 3rd birthday in February. Would you make an appointment to discuss this with either of them earlier than that? We're on the wait list for speech services at the hospital, so I'll have to wait to talk to the SLP, as well.

chardonnay24

I'm really confused, too. I didn't think an SLP was qualified to make that sort of diagnosis, but it's now listed on my son's chart at his regular pedi as a result. We have seen a dev. pedi but not at this hospital and to my knowledge, the SLP has not consulted him.

She asked some behavioral questions during the eval, which was difficult to complete because he wasn't cooperative. He would either ignore her questions or say, "no thanks". He spent a lot of time exploring the room instead of playing with the toys she provided. She did mention that the results would be affected due to his noncompliance, but I didn't think she could make a diagnosis like that based on the hour long evaluation alone.

chardonnay24

Our OT had always told us that the intensity thing was related to the sensory issues. Like the aquarium thing - when he hits, it's generally for a reason. In that case, it was because he felt crowded. He's pretty sensitive to touch and likes his own space. A lot of times at storytime when kids are crowding, he gets overwhelmed and starts shoving. But he doesn't normally hit children for no reason. He rarely hits an adult and he's never hit a nonmobile baby. He is 15 months older than my niece and just recently started hitting her, and she's 18 months old. He's been going to preschool since September and has not had any aggressive or defiant behaviors, according to the teacher.

I'll definitely follow up. Our regular pedi and the dev. pedi don't think that he is so "off" that we need to seek a diagnosis of any kind until he is closer to 5, so that's kind of our plan at the moment. If he does have ODD, that's fine, I just thought it was weird that he was diagnosed with it after an hour long session with an SLP considering it has never been mentioned to us by any other therapist or physician.