Students With Oppositional Disorder

by Mickey Wircenski
CTE Project Director

Instructors are finding that they are challenged with a greater number of students with Oppositional Disorder (OPD). This is a serious and chronic psychiatric condition that is characterized by a confrontational attitude, a disregard for the feeling of others, verbal aggressiveness and a pattern of bothering others. OPD is the result of environment and genetics, particularly if the individual comes from a traumatic, neglectful or negative environment.

OPD sufferers seem to get pleasure from their behavior. Symptoms include a pattern of negative, hostile and defiant behavior lasting at least six months, during which four or more of the following are present:

·         Losing one’s temper

·         Arguing with adults

·         Defying adults or refusing adult requests or rules

·         Deliberately annoying others

·         Blaming others for one’s own mistakes or misbehavior

·         Being easily annoyed

·         Being angry and resentful

·         Being spiteful for no apparent reason

·         Swearing or using obscene language

·         Holding a low opinion of oneself (Jensen, 2000)

OPD constitutes a high level of challenge to the classroom instructor. The three most important beliefs that an instructor can foster in the OPD student are:

·         A sense that they have some control over their lives

·         A sense that what they do is different from who they are

·         A feeling that they are cared about despite their condition

General guidelines for instructors who work with OPD students consist of the following:

·         Pick your battles carefully…consider the “long haul”

·         Learn to distract instead of confront

·         Encourage writing and journaling for the student

Jensen (2000) offered the following strategies for classroom instructors:

·       Create a response team with others in the school as well as with parents and relatives of the student.

·       Use a behavior modification approach with mutually agreed upon rewards and fair consequences.

·         Respond in a non-oppositional way with flexibility.

·         Be consistent in your expectations.

·         Be specific with your requests.

·         Provide encouragement as often as possible.

·         Don’t get caught up in arguing with the student.

·         Don’t give ultimatums…give choices.

References

Jensen, Eric. (2000). Different Brains, Different Learners. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.