Hope for ODD?

[ohmomma]

Dear Dr Bradley/Parents
I had this post in the wrong section, sorry, so here it goes again:

I am looking for feedback regarding ODD (oppositional defiant disorder) with possible ADD (impulsive type). Anyone with experience in this area, pls let me hear from you... I need support and hope...

My handsome, bright, 14 yr old boy has been in outpatient treatment to help with defiance at home and school, starting drug use and stealing, lying. He has just been released from outpatient, after 3 weeks there, we can see some small changes in behavior. Plus, we have improved on our handling of the raging, defiant episodes, thanks to your book, Dr. Bradley. But he is already trying to control things, especially going into summer vacation. We need to keep him from reverting, and getting worse NOW. Having freedom is a really dangerous thing for him.

His Dr's and counselors have recommended we send him to a wilderness program (NOT the boot camp kind), upon researching I found one in our area which will cost us our life savings, but we are willing to do anything.

Does anyone have experience with wilderness programs, do they work, what should we look for, and what is long-term outcome. Also, what is outlook for ODD in general, have read terribly scary statistics, I refuse to believe them.

For some reason no one seems to follow up on the possibility of the ADD, he is not on any meds (refuses to take them anyway) but wouldn't addressing the underlying issue help? Should we do a neuropsych evaluation?

Please do respond, we need to know our next steps, and find hope.

Thanks for any advice :-)

[parenteen]

the doctors are right. try to send him to a wilderness program. by the way, wilderness program is also a part of some boot camps. teen boot camps help a lot, actually. but then again, i can see that you are having a problem regarding the cost. have you ever check some state boot camps? try to find one and check their programs. see if your boy can qualify to be in the camp. some of state camps have programs for special needs.

as for ODD, it's really a serious behavioral problem. have you ever evaluate the environment or the external factors that might have caused the condition? there are so many reasons why your kid is acting like that. [commercial promotion edited by forum moderator]
however, you can start by paying more attention to your child. maybe he really needs you to have some quality time with him, particulary now that you have discovered that he has ODD. try to spend more time with him.