Introduction to Pathological Demand Avoidance

Brush your teeth. Put your coat on. Well done! For a child or young person with PDA (pathological demand avoidance), requests like these, and even praise, can feel like a threat. The reaction can go from distraction and excuses to meltdown in seconds. It isn't naughtiness or a power game, and rewards and sanctions usually make it worse.

You'll learn what PDA is and how it differs from oppositional defiant disorder, from an autistic trainer and advocate who has worked with PDA children, adults and families for decades. There's the PDA Society's PANDA approach, and the EDA-Q questionnaire for when PDA might be part of the picture. And there are plenty of real examples, like turning a bedroom tidy-up into a mission to clear a minefield.