The PDA Paradox: The Highs and Lows of My Life on a Little-Known Part of the Autism Spectrum

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Next we have Alison Dear who is a Speech and Language Therapist and a Sensory Integration Specialist. I saw Harry speak and was blown away; one of only a few PDA speakers on the circuit, he provides such an invaluable perspective on PDA which is badly needed as more children are being identified as PDA and there is very little knowledge or understanding of PDA by professionals who are supporting our children. Teachers or his parents never suspected he experienced extreme anxiety in school, says Thompson, a public speaker who tours as “The Naughty Autie” in England and shares his k-12 schooling experience with parents. This is the word I allow myself when I hold buzzers in my hands during EMDR therapy sessions and work through memories of my own trauma from the past six years. Consequently, Thompson’s use of neurodiverse to describe DAPers can be viewed as appropriating neurodiversity for their own agenda and utilising fringe neurodiversity concepts.

Harry shares his own insights into living life as someone with Pathological Demand Avoidance and how he’s made it work for him. Organise clubs, activities, school holiday trips and parent support groups for autistic people and their families. K-R ) We both enter an almost Zen mode where we are both doing what we want to do, but we are doing it together with no demands or relenting control on either side. c. Strong, involuntary emotional threat responses in the context of perceived demands (can be implicit and ever-present, such as attending school and work; or explicit such as a direct request or direction or suggestion) on the person’s autonomy, which may be expressed as; anger, aggression, rage, anxiety, fear, desperation, and at its extreme, meltdown (panic). The lack of understanding and empathy for people who are neurodiverse in our mental health services is shameful.

These are parents who have tried everything — these parents have gone through different therapists, and they've tried medications with their kids, and they've tried parenting classes, and they're exhausted,” Henderson says.

They haven’t let me leave those terms in the burial ground of my former way of speaking, but rather have been dragging them with me into this new, post-PDA-realization phase of life. It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times. Effectively, a DAP diagnosis does not mean much and can be easily challenged, with obvious implications for any diagnosticians clinical opinion. When he refused to acknowledge his SALT, she used this technique and within 10 minutes he was playing with her (in his own way). This is my first speaking appointment so I am hoping not to embarrass myself too much in such a prestigeous line up!

Similarly, I recognized that her son’s behavior shouldn’t fall within a definition of violence that reflects the intentional “use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy”. These are the remnants of my own expectations for how I thought things would be when I became a mother, for the child I imagined I would raise, for the life I thought I was destined to live. Primarily there it is recognised there is no stable hard boarder between those labels and no-one knows where each label starts or ends. Critical Reflections on the Pathological Demand Avoidance debate: A response to The Practice MK blog and discussion.

Harry Jack Thompson, the “naughty autie taking the neurotypical world by storm” known for his advocacy work in awareness for Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) and [ former] director of Neurodivergent Education Support and Training (NEST), a common profile among autistics and other atypical neurotypes, has recently had his harmful and manipulative behaviors come to light, resulting in his disappearance from the digital space. But emotionally, like many PDA parents, I do have metaphorical blood on my walls and bones that must be laid to rest. The most important thing to remember: “You should trust your instincts with your child, and trust your experience.

For older kids and teens, depersonalize demands with schedules and planners — then let them take care of the rest, she adds. That feeling of euphoric freedom when you are free to do exactly what you want to do and no one is trying to hinder you.

Provide information, representation, emotional and social support to autistic people and their families. Pinpoint also give parent carers opportunities to have a say and get involved in improving local services. However, despite my logical understanding, my body and heart wouldn’t let go of the words, “violence” and “violent. Once he stopped being at school (the beginning of the second week of January term starting) the violence completely stopped. Thompson is charged with sending a public message which was grossly offensive or indecent and sending an offensive letter.

Our monthly newsletter contains details of our upcoming sessions, opportunities for parents/carers to participate, and all the latest SEND news for Cambridgeshire. This includes ensuring that you pre-book for all events and tell us how and when you will cover the cost (if there is one). It is very hard to describe, but it is like running really really fast but not getting out of breath. He was obviously in distress and I, his mum; the person who is meant to instinctively know how to make everything better for him, was in a tailspin and had become scared of him.