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[prettyflwrs]

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Edited by prettyflwrs - 5/24/11 at 1:07pm

[sbgrace]

Tamar Chansky has a good book . Wagner has a book as well.

Last time i checked Chanskey (and a couple other professionals) and many parents wtih experience were on a yahoo group for parents of kids with OCD right here.

I have a lot of experience with OCD but with my own child I think I would desperately need the help of a professional. It would be really difficult to do what you have to do to treat OCD with your own child without guidance and support. It's even more difficult at her age. Similarly, the books I have read for kids with OCD are geared toward an older child. Ugh.

The OCD Foundation will have information and they also have a search function to look for therapists (the find help section of the site). You would look for someone who works with pediatrics--call ahead to see if they have experience to treat her age. Finding a therapist to guide you would be very important I think if at all possible. You need someone who
"does" OCD as the treatment for that (cognitive behavioral) is very specific and different than for other conditions including other anxiety conditions.

[beachcomber]

OCD characteristics can appear in children on the autism spectrum. My DD (5) has definite obsessive behaviors including lining up her stuffies and toys in a certain way. She has no idea why she must do it but she must. She also has complex dressing rituals where things must be done in a certain order. I'm working with her to avert a compulsion that's building around hand washing. At first it was a novel bit of independence, now it's turning into a compulsion to do it over and over until her hands chap. She can't explain why but a real need is developing to wash and wash and wash. She's got a diagnosis of Autism Disorder and is high functioning.  I suggest you look into autism resources for children as well as there may be some strategies on those sites that can be of use with younger children. My research into OCD has informed me that it's unusual for it to be diagnosed in younger children so finding stuff on OCD specific sites may be more difficult for you. Best of luck with this!