A lot of parents ask me about their ODD children. They ask me what is going to happen to them in the future. They ask what the long term is with these ODD children.
Well, there are a number of things that do happen with ODD children. The good news is that if your child is under eight years old there is a very strong chance, about 50%, that he/she will outgrow ODD.
However, if he/she is older than eight, almost all of these children do continue to have ODD or some sort of defiant behavior into their teen years and sometimes into adulthood.
Another thing that can happen is that these children can have their diagnosis changed to something like ADHD. This is not common. About 5-10% of all children have their diagnosis changed.
There is also a possibility of the child developing something called Conduct Disorder, which is the most significantly difficult disruptive child behavior disorder. This is a very uncommon disorder. The good news about this is if your child has had ODD for 3-4 yrs, they usually do not change the diagnosis to something severe like Conduct Disorder.
Another thing that could happen is that they could develop some other disorder that we have not mentioned, which is also not so common.
One common thing that could happen is that they stay ODD and just ODD. About 5% of children remain ODD for the rest of their lives.
However, the vast majority of children who have Oppositional Defiant Disorder eventually develop some other concurrent condition with the ODD.
For example, your child could develop one of these conditions along with ODD: ADHD, Bi-Polar disorder, or some other psychiatric diagnosis. This is the most common thing that can happen.
So there is no good news and no bad news. This is what is likely to happen to your child if he/she had Oppositional Defiant Disorder.
The important thing to remember is that your child is not a statistic. Any child can be turned around, and you should really look into doing what you can to get your child’s behavior under control.
The other thing to remember is that with ODD, the child may be naturally defiant, but you can use that natural defiance for good things.
For example, my oldest child, who is now in his late teens, is still by nature very defiant. He is not defiant against his parents, he is defiant against things like social problems, smoking, drug abuse. These are the things that I am happy he is defiant about. This type of defiance is not a bad thing.
Remember, the defiance has to be redirected. That is your job as a parent, to help use your child’s talents, whether it is defiance or some other problem. As a parent you must learn how to direct your child properly, for their good and for society’s good.
