Students with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, or ODD, can feel challenging to teach and reach at times. Whether you’re a special education teacher, a general educator, a therapist, or a caregiver, students with ODD present behaviors that pose challenges across all settings. I taught special education for over 10 years, and many of those being with students that had the primary disability of Emotional Disability. Many of my former students had an additional diagnoses of ODD.
Myths and truths
There are a lot of myths and misconceptions surrounding students with ODD. Like any person, when you meet one individual from a group, they will have their own, individual characteristics that make them unique. This is important to remember! It can be easy to fall into a slump of feeling like none of the interventions or strategies you’re attempting are working, and therefore nothing will. I am excited to share 3 tried and true strategies for supporting students with ODD.
1.) Consistent, clear expectations and logical consequences
It’s a new “trend” within education professional settings to say that you don’t believe in consequences. I want to clear that up, as consequences just ARE – they aren’t a philosophy to believe in or disagree with. The consequence of air conditioning is cooling a space. The consequence of writing with a pen are marks on a paper. What I believe some individuals are trying to say is that they don’t agree with punishment. I have to agree! There is no research that shows us that punishments are effective in long term behavior change, most specifically for students with ODD!
Does this mean there are no consequences for the challenging behaviors that may occur in your classroom setting? NO!
Having clear expectations means that there are agreements/rules/expectations for your learning space that are clearly defined. Students should show a working understanding and comprehension of these expectations in some way. This could be sharing examples, modeling the behaviors, or completing work tasks that show their knowledge. I really believe that expectations should also be regularly revisited. Making a classroom chart that is consistently referred to and kept alive is the best way to ensure that students are rooted in what is expected by everyone in that space.
Logical consequences are exactly what it sounds like: a connected consequence to a behavior that happens. For example, if a student threw a calculator across the classroom and the batteries fell out, their logical consequence would be to fix the calculator and any relationship damage that may have occurred due to the throwing. A non-example is a student talking back to their fourth grade teacher, and then having to sit out of PE class as a consequence. This is not logical, as PE is not connected at all to talking back, and it doesn’t match the behavior exhibited.
Students with ODD (much like all people), thrive on clarity. When they’re fully aware of the expectations to follow and have an idea of the consequences that may occur as a result of actions, it makes the general flow much more manageable.
2.) Co-created behavior plans
Behavior plans (whether formal or informal) are often put into place for students with ODD. More often than not, a team of adults that works with the student get together and create a behavior plan for that child. While these plans are generally made with the best intentions, it could be even more personalized and meaningful if the student themselves is involved!
Involving a student in the creation of a behavior plan does not have to be complicated. They can provide ideas, share what times of the day they may need more support, and give clear indications of their buy-in for the plan. It’s no secret that we want students to be invested in their behavior plans. They’re the most important part of it, anyway! Giving them a seat at the table will allow for more success from the start.
3.) Personalized calm corner
Everyone wants to feel seen. We often think of some students with ODD as kids who are resistant to relationship building. While I can absolutely see with some kids how this could appear to be true, everyone is relational. It looks different for some of us! Having a calm corner in the student’s learning space is a HUGE gift. When you’re a student that experiences big emotions and may have a hard time regulating them safely, having a specific space to retreat to is essential.
It’s no secret that I love a good calm corner, however I also know that many students might be resistant to using them. Try making a calm corner that is personalized to the student you want to encourage to use it! If you know they love Star Wars, print some character pictures or provide a few Star Wars books in the area. If they respond really well to music, provide a way for them to listen to a few songs while they take a break there. Ensuring that students with ODD feel seen will not only create more buy-in for using a space like this, but it will naturally help strengthen relationships.
