Based on the provided module resources and Chapter 1 of your text (ATTACHED), discuss case scenarios of Oskar and Polly. Which intervention would be most appropriate to use? Explain your rationale and include examples of how you would implement each.

To complete this assignment, review the Discussion Rubric document.

AFTER COMPLETING THE INITIAL POST, PLEASE ALSO RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING TWO STUDENTS REGARDING THE SAME TOPIC!

STUDENT ONE:

In the case of Oskar, he is a 7 year old boy who has oppositional defiant disorder. Basically, he marches to the beat of his own drum. He wants to do things on his terms, and he does not like being told what to do. After arguing with someone over the same thing for some time, he changes the way he goes about things and just goes from 0-100, for example, when he gets home from school, he wants to go out and play and his mom wants him to do his homework, after arguing he just goes outside. He basically wears his mother down until she has had it with arguing. For Oskar, it doesn’t seem like he is too far gone, that being said his mother could use the primary intervention strategy. In my opinion, him going outside and making comments like “you can’t stop me” and the small fights that they get in really just seems like the beginning of the risky behavior, and it could definitely get worse. One way that his mother could use the primary intervention strategy would be to take him outside time away completely. Tell him that if he continues to act that way, that not only will he not be allowed to go outside that day but he won’t be allowed outside all week. Of course, that will mean that his mom will have to stand her ground. She could also make him do his homework in his room, he may be more likely to do his homework and not be tempted to go outside if he is in his room and not in the living room.

Polly acts out due to the fact that it was discovered that her biological mother was being physically abusive to her. This resulted in her having uncontrollable outburst and not showing any respect for adults. This is definitely due to the fact that she didn’t have a great relationship with her mother, an adult, and it affects how she is with other adults. In her case, since she is having outbursts and tantrums, the intervention strategy that needs to be implemented is tertiary. She needs to be carefully placed with adults who will show her love and care for her, but who also won’t put up with her tantrums. Rather than just get tired of her tantrums and send her off to another home, they can sit down with her and address her tantrums, why she is acting that way, and how they can go about fixing the tantrums and toning them down.

Cipani, E. (2017). Functional Behavioral Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment: A Complete System for Education and Mental Health Settings. New York: Springer Publishing.

STUDENT TWO:

In the case of Oskar, he is a 7-year-old who was diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder. He is described as having extreme oppositional behavior along with the occasional aggressive behaviors. By the scenario that is being described Oskar has his oppositional tendencies when he is being asked to do something other than what he wants to do. For example, he wants to go outside but his mother wants him to do his homework. Oskar has learned that if he puts up enough of a fight with his mother, his mother will give up and Oskar is able to do what he wanted to do from the start (Cipani, 2017).

One of the first suggestions that should be made is for the mother to become more educated on the disorder. Many parents who have a child that have ODD can become depressed and overwhelmed. It is often suggested that a therapy treatment plan is in place for both the child and the parent in order to make sure that there is more support from the parent in treating the child (Katzmann, Dopfner, & Gortz-Dorten, 2018). In Oskar’s case, the scenario does not go into detail on if the mother has tried positive reinforcement before resorting to physical conflict. Using positive reinforcement helps to enforce positive behaviors. Oskar’s mother exacerbates the situation by becoming physical with Oskar. Mediating therapy has been shown to improve behaviors of children diagnosed with ODD (Katzmann, Dopfner, & Gortz-Dorten, 2018).

In the case of Polly who was taken out of her mother’s custody, she was diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder. Polly and her siblings were removed from the mother’s custody after CPS followed up on reports that Polly was acting out in school, being physically and verbally violent at times. After further investigation, it was found that the mother was not tending to the children’s need properly. Polly’s early upbringing has a lot to do with how she reacts to adults. She was unable to form a healthy attachment to an adult caregiver at an appropriate age causing Polly to be unable to form these attachments later. Using positive reinforcement one set of foster parents were able to redirect her bedtime behaviors in a more positive way. In Polly’s case, in order to really help her overcome RAD, would be for her to have consistency with adults in her life. She had been placed in multiple foster family homes due to her behavior, this only solidifies her feeling on not wanting to attach to an adult who will just abandon her in the end (Cipani, 2017).

References

Cipani, E. (2017). Functional Behavioral Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment: A Complete System for Education and Mental Health Settings. New York: Springer Publishing.

Katzmann, J., Dopfner, M., & Gortz-Dorten, A. (2018). Child‑based treatment of oppositional defiant disorder: mediating effects on parental depression, anxiety and stress. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry , 27:1181-1192.