Information, support and training for PDA
PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) is widely understood to be a profile on the autism spectrum, involving the avoidance of everyday demands and the use of ‘social’ strategies as part of this avoidance. PDA individuals share autistic characteristics and also have many of the ‘key features’ of a PDA profile.
This short video is a brief introduction to PDA and the approaches that help. More details can be found throughout our website.
Find out more
The wide range of information on our website can be explored through the following sections …
Back to school
Resources for education professionals
To help education professionals prepare for an inclusive #BackToSchool this September, we’ve created and compiled some new and existing resources about PDA including a new information sheet for teaching professionals, a podcast about PDA & school avoidance with a 15 year old PDAer and examples of best practice.
With 7 in 10 PDA children not in school or regularly struggling to attend, it’s important for every education professional to have PDA on their radar.
Featured training
PDA Society courses are delivered by training facilitators with valuable first-hand experiences of living and working with PDA. Full details and tickets for our upcoming courses are available via the following links.
About us
The PDA Society is led and run by a small team, all of whom have a direct connection with PDA and many of whom are volunteers. We provide information, support and training about PDA for individuals, families and professionals. We aim to increase acceptance and understanding of the PDA profile within the concept of ‘dimensionality’ in autism, and to improve outcomes for individuals and families by focusing everyone involved on ‘what helps’. The PDA panda is our ambassador because, just like giant pandas, PDA individuals need specific support in order to thrive.