We’re thrilled to announce today the appointment of Georgina Hoare as the new CEO of the PDA Society, starting on 10 August 2026.

Georgina has a wealth of charity leadership experience and is joining us from Tavistock Consulting, where she is a Senior Organisational Consultant working with leaders across sectors, providing bespoke organisational consultancy, executive and team coaching. She has dedicated her career to leading charities that exist because of unmet needs and brings extensive leadership experience at both Director and CEO level.

The government have recently published a school’s white paper talking about changes they would like to make to the education system; alongside this they have published a consultation document. The consultation document describes changes they plan to make to how children with SEND are supported. The consultation is open until midnight on the 18th May and we strongly recommend that PDAers, parents and professionals take the opportunity to tell the government which of the ideas in the document you think will work, what you think won’t and share any experiences you’ve had that might help them understand PDAers needs in education better.

It’s PDA Action Week and this year we’re partnering with PDA North America to create opportunities to get involved with the growing international community around PDA – as a source of information, support and solidarity. 

At a time when it can feel like we’re moving backwards in the fight for better access to diagnosis, support and basic recognition, building this community now is more important than ever before.

The PDA Society Education Conference is a practical online event for education professionals and parents committed to improving outcomes for PDA learners. Hosted by the PDA Society, this fully live event brings together leading specialists, experienced practitioners and PDA adults to explore what genuinely works in educational settings.

This blog is to let you know about the next couple of opportunities to shape our consultation response.
Hopefully you’ve already seen the survey we’ve put out, and the consultative conversation around SSP’s. If not details on both and links to get involved are at the bottom of this blog.
Next we want to focus on two areas where parent carers — and those with experience of education outside traditional settings — have deep, practical insight:

1. How families and schools work together, especially when things go wrong.

2. How absence and education outside school are understood and protected.

If you’ve been following the White Paper and the SEND consultation, you’ll have seen a phrase that could turn out to be really important: Specialist Provision Packages (SPPs). This is the bit of the proposals that I think could be genuinely helpful, or an absolute nightmare, depending on how it’s designed and how it’s used in real life. So, I want to take a closer look at what SPPs are meant to be, why some of us feel hopeful, why many families feel terrified, and what we can do right now to steer this in a safer direction.

There’s been a lot of understandable anxiety about what might be in the government’s white paper. It was released on Monday morning and I’ve spent a bit of time reviewing it since. This blog covers my first thoughts on what is in it, what sits alongside it in the SEND consultation, and what that might mean for your family.

Blog article about Cerebra’s launch event for their new campaign on systems-generated trauma.

Blog article celebrating the launch of the new PDA Society training hub and member subscriptions

Blog article looking at the Law Commission’s final report and recommendations on children’s social care

Blog article discussing the PDA Society response to the House of Lords on the Autism Act and it’s impact

Blog interview with comedian Stuart Laws who is a great supporter of the PDA Society

Blog article calling for young people with a PDA profile to discuss what helps them feel supported.

Blog article about Carers Week 2025 and looking at being a carer-friendly organisation or employer.