You mean the cutting clothes? She only did it a couple times to get pay back at her sister, thank God she stopped. Do you think everything I mentioned is all normal behavior and just her growing up?
Yes she can. She is better now and this was in the past but I was just concerned about the past behavior because I read about conduct disorder and know the symptoms are destroying property, cruelty to animals and stealing. I am not sure if what she did is considered cruelty to animals or not and none of these things were done within the same year either.
Yes this was all in the past but I just wanted to make sure she doesnt do things like this again and that she didnt have conduct disorder because I know children that have this grow up with antisocial disorder.
Oh and yes it was money that she stole. She stole paint and gum as a toddler before that, but Im sure a lot of children do that.
Conduct disorder does not stop and start. If she has it, I really believe that you and everybody around her would know it. But here is more info:
Oppositional Defiant Disorder is defined by aggressiveness and a tendency to purposefully bother and irritate others. While it is true that anybody can be aggressive and irritating from time to time, to be diagnosed as ODD, a person must display a pattern of negativistic, hostile, and defiant behavior lasting at least six months.
What are the symptoms of ODD?
A pattern of negativistic, hostile, and defiant behavior lasting at least 6 months, during which four (or more) of the following are present:
often loses temper
often argues with adults
often actively defies or refuses to comply with adults' requests or rules
often deliberately annoys people
often blames others for his or her mistakes or misbehavior
is often touchy or easily annoyed by others
is often angry and resentful
is often spiteful or vindictive
Note : Consider a criterion met only if the behavior occurs more frequently than is typically observed in individuals of comparable age and developmental level.
The disturbance in behavior causes clinically significant impairment in social, academic, or occupational functioning.
The behaviors do not occur exclusively during the course of a Psychotic or Mood Disorder (such as depression).
from: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/587.html
Wow thank you! This really helped. I emailed a psychiatrist and of course they said they can't give any info over the phone or email and that she would need to come in. They scared me thought because they said my concerns were valid and that I should bring her in. She is a good kid other than what I mentioned. Do you think what she did is considered animal cruelty?