Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) among children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Previous studies have shown the consequences of Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) among children. It has been argued that autistic children could suffer from high level of (ODD). Due to the importance of this topic, this study attempted to investigate the prevalence of (ODD) among autistic children. The sample consisted of 64 autistic children (age range 3-11 years old) who were randomly selected from three centers in Sulaimani city. A scale by Al-Dusuqi (2015) was utilized to measure (ODD) and the psychometric characteristics such as validity and reliability for this scale was extracted. The results of the study showed that the prevalence of (ODD) among children with autism spectrum disorder was 31%. Children, suggesting that thirty one percent of the autistic children are suffer from Oppositional Defiant Disorder. It was also found that boys have high level of (ODD) than females. Concerning the differences based on the age group, it was revealed that increasing age is a significant contributor to the occurrence of (ODD) among autistic children. In light of these results, several recommendations have been made.