What do you think of 'Oppositional Defiant Disorder'?

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I think it is a real thing and it is not a child that is a free thinker and questions everything, this is a real disorder that causes an impairment in the child's life in educational environment and at home where they cannot function. It can lead to conduct disorder and they can have ASPD when they are grown ups if not outgrown.

I knew a kid with it and he most likely had Conduct disorder as well because he would hit his mother, threaten her and break things and he would hurt other students and attack teachers in his school to get his way. He was also pretty manipulative because he could act "normal" if he had to and if he knows he can't get away with it or if he knows about consequences he wouldn't like. But he used it as manipulation for his own gain.

I think it is important to distinguish the symptoms between other disorders as well because of overlap. A child isn't always defiant if they don't do as they say due to not understanding rules and directions, not because they don't like authority. It could also be because they need to under stand the rules and they have to make sense, not because they don't like authority.

Pathological demand Avoidance and ODD sound very familiar because the symptoms look exactly the same. In PDA, it's about not liking demands while for ODD, they just simply don't like authority. But they both are still demands so they are very much a like. Plus they both engage in violence and manipulation from what I have seen. But then again, this could also be a sign of anxiety which is also why it's important to know how often do these symptoms occur and when do they occur and how pervasive it is. If it just comes and goes, it's not PDA or ODD. I often think PDA is just some form of anxiety and I wonder what would happen if they got treated for anxiety, would they be able to handle demands better? Anxiety is common in autism after all. Even I have troubles with demands when I am anxious and also if something is thrown at me at the last minute, I need time to adjust but that doesn't mean I have PDA or ODD.