Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) was not something I was familiar with when I started my teaching career 13 years ago. But through the years, I’ve had multiple students with challenging behaviors (autism, ODD, OCD, ADHD, etc.) and I had to quickly figure out strategies to help support them in the classroom. I am in no way an expert in meeting the needs of children with challenging behaviors, these are simply suggestions I’ve found to be helpful.
First and foremost, ODD is a mental health disorder and we need to adjust our instruction and/or discipline to meet the needs of that child, as we would for a child with a learning disability, visual impairment, hearing impairment, etc. What we need to keep in mind is that traditional discipline doesn’t typically work for kids with ODD because they enjoy upsetting people around them or like the power struggle. Here are some suggestions on how to support students with ODD, autism, or other challenging behaviors:
Students with ODD can be very challenging, remember you are human and may need a moment to calm down, and that is okay! Reach out to coworkers for support, we’re all in this together. - Marcie Dodd
4 Comments
Denise Lee
3/13/2019 01:35:44 pm
Marcie ~ Thank you for this reminder!
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Amanda Maki
5/1/2019 01:32:13 pm
Great points here! It's often hard to remember to reward the positive, because it's usually just what we expect from students, but some students really need to see when they have done what you want them to, so they can try to do it again.
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Stephanie Radloff
5/6/2020 07:19:28 am
This was such a great reminder and tips on what to do! I also appreciated the reminder that we are human and it's ok to take a step back and breathe! I, personally, sometimes forget I am human that taking a break from the situation is both good for me and the student.
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Michelle Monreal
3/15/2022 01:09:32 pm
I happened upon this post today, and it is just what I need. I've been finding myself frustrated trying to motivate and guide students in completing their work, one "more than just difficult" in particular. I appreciate your reminder about reaching out to co-workers. Just today, I was able to "tag-team" with a colleague to turn an escalating situation into one more productive by considering the student's interests and reframing the task into one he could better relate to. Though I know this strategy and have used it many times, it is sometimes difficult to see when you are in the middle of a struggle.
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