I have a 10 year old daughter who was diagnosed at 3 with autism. She was a very difficult baby and has become an extremely difficult 10 year old. I have always explained the defiant behavior with autism, but I am beginning to wonder now that she is older if she has ODD. She is and always has been a very defiant child. She has been suspended from school many times. She has been asked to leave 2 regular schools and is now in a special school for children with disabilities. I love the school, but they are having a horrible time dealing with her defiant behavior. She has started wetting her pants, hitting, cursing, running away, everything you can think of. She kicked a hole in my bathroom door-barefoot, and broke her bedroom window with her fists. The most frustrating thing is that anything I tell her not to do, she does. For example, the other day she was making a peanut butter/jelly sandwich and I saw her l**k the knife, like all kids do. I instinctively said, dont l**k the knife it will cut you and now everytime she makes a sandwich she comes and finds me and says look and licks the knife. We have worked with behaior therapists, who advise me to ignore most of her negative attention seeking behaviors, but her behaviors are getting very bad and I cant ignore them. We have tried many many medications and none of them seem to work. Discipline is a nightmare. Because of her autism, she doesnt care if I put her in time out, take away priviledges, toys, spankings-nothing works. In fact I think she likes it when I do these things. Its like its a game.
I am at my wits end. Has anybody had a similiar experience with a child with autism? Is it possible to have this dual diagnosis, or is this another wonderful symptom of autism? Can anyone offer some insight into my problem?
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