ADHD and ODD: Dealing with Your Child's Anger

"Signs of ODD can be seen in a child's behavior toward his primary caregiver. The defiant behavior may spread to a secondary caregiver and to teachers or other authority figures, but if it appears in a child with ADHD, ODD will appear within two years of an ADHD diagnosis.

 If a child does start to become defiant, there is an easy way to tell whether that behavior is a consequence of ADHD or is a sign of ODD. 'ADHD isn't a problem with starting a task, it's a problem with finishing a task,' says Russell Barkley, Ph.D., a clinical professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina. 'If a child can’t start a task, that's ODD.'"