ASD VS ODD

Today we visited Jacob's autism doctor for a consultation regarding Jacob's constant anger issues.  We've often wondered if our son has ODD, which stands for oppositional defiant disorder.  It has various symptoms, which we feel, would put him in that category.  Not that it matters as much, but teachers at the school feel the same way.  I don't normally put too much weight on diagnoses from the school, but Shannie and I felt the same, so we booked an appointment anyway.

All of Jacob's life, he's been consistently defiant.  Anytime we ask him to stop what he's doing to do something else, he gets extremely angry.  It doesn't matter if we ask if he wants ice cream.  His first answer is almost always "NO".  Then he'll quickly backtrack and say "Oh, I mean yes."  He's much better at home when it comes to cycling through his emotions.  So when something like this happens at school, he often has to leave the classroom.  The school is very understanding when Jacob needs to leave the stress that often fills his classroom, but it can make learning more challenging.

Today when we spoke to his ASD doctor, we both learned something incredible about Jacob's type of autism.  Jacob's autism doctor isn't comfortable giving patients with certain types of autism, a diagnosis of ODD.  The doctor feels that defiance is common place for those with Jacob's associated ASD.  The doctor felt that Jacob has improved greatly over the years since he was first diagnosed with Aspergers when he was 5.  Jacob's gotten more control over his emotions, but he still has a lot to learn.

Jacob's ASD doctor told us that most normal kids start to get control over their emotions around age 4 or 5.  But kids with Aspergers often do not until age 9 thru 12.  So there's still time and growth that has to occur, before Jacob will really get a handle on his feelings.   And he also feels that Jacob does not have ODD.  Phew.  We are so relieved.  I don't know if having ODD would be that big of a deal for us, but it's still nice that he doesn't have it.

Jacob's doctor did put us in sequence with an ABA therapist for some extra work in dealing with his emotions.  Which was okay for us, because we were just happy that a doctor felt that Jacob was doing well.   Shannie and I have always tried to look at things with honesty.  We promised each other that we wouldn't look at things through rose coloured glasses when it came to Jacob's ASD, because that doesn't help anyone. So we're not afraid of some extra work.  We're just simply used to it like most autism parents are.  Because if autism teaches you one thing, it's how to be dedicated.