Courses & events for parents & carers
We offer various training options for parents and carers, including live courses which we deliver on various dates throughout the year and on behalf of other organisations such as autism charities and support groups. We also host Q&As and provide free pre-recorded webinars and videos on various topics.
Further details are available below or, to quickly navigate to a specific training option, please use the following links:
Live courses
Our live courses are delivered either in-person or online via Zoom by our training facilitators who have valuable lived experience of PDA as parents, carers, partners, family members and PDAers themselves.
Each course we offer includes the following general content:
- what is PDA?
- demands and their effects
- how PDA can feel
- helpful approaches (including collaborative problem solving)
- signposting to resources & support
These themes are then developed with additional material included depending upon the course – detailed below.
Please note: any legislation/diagnostic approaches discussed are related to England unless stated otherwise. Parent/carer programmes are also available covering the Welsh education system, please ask for details.
If you aren’t sure which course is the right one for you, have any questions about any of our courses or would like to enquire about costings or making a booking on behalf of an organisation, please email* our training team at: training@pdasociety.org.uk
Courses we’re currently offering for parents and carers include:
Understanding PDA for parents/carers
5.5-6 hour programmes (delivered in-person on one day or online via 2 sessions)
Suitable for parents and carers of PDA children (whether formally diagnosed, self-identified or exploring the profile) up to age 18 years. Families with young people aged 18 years+ are very welcome to join the course but due to time constraints we’re unable to cover more specific adult approaches and ideas. Delegates are requested to watch a 20min introductory webinar prior to attending the training.
Additional material: anxiety, rewards/praise/sanctions, siblings, diagnosis, transition to adulthood, and education.
Tickets for upcoming public course dates are available below.
What is PDA?
2.5-3 hour programmes
Introductory session discussing PDA, including an opportunity to ask questions to a PDA Adult. Suitable for parents and carers who would like to learn more about PDA.
Tickets for upcoming public course dates are available below.
What is PDA? for male parents and carers of PDA children and adults
2.5-3 hour programmes
Suitable for all men who are the parent or carer of a PDA person (whether formally diagnosed, self-identified or exploring the profile).
Additional material: guest speakers offering their insights and answering questions from a male perspective.
New dates coming soon.
Supporting PDA young people & adults
3.5-4 hour programmes
Suitable for parents and carers supporting PDA young people and/or adults (whether formally diagnosed, self-identified or exploring the profile).
Additional material: teenagers & adults; distressed behaviours; individual needs; inclusive support.
Tickets for upcoming public course dates are available below.
Introduction to PDA
1 hour programme for support groups only.
Please email training@pdasociety.org.uk to make a booking enquiry.
Q&A Live events
Our online Q&A Live sessions invite guest speakers to answer questions about PDA and specific topics live via Zoom. We are delighted to be able to offer these sessions for ‘free’ thanks to a generous grant from the Openwork Partnership. Links here are available for the live session only. The Q&As will be recorded but you will need to register separately for the recording after the event via the PDA Society training hub. Each new recording will initially be ‘free’ but will become a ‘paid resource’ after a total of 500 live & recorded registrations have been received so please do act quickly!
Questions can be submitted at the time of booking and/or via the Zoom chat function on the night.
It may not be possible to answer all questions depending on the numbers attending and the amount of questions asked. Also it won’t be possible to answer specific questions on personal situations within these Q&A sessions – if you require support please contact our enquiry line.
Full details and tickets for our upcoming Q&A Live events are detailed below.
Speech and Language Therapy
Wednesday 6th December 2023 – 8pm – 9pm (GMT)
This Q&A Live event will be part of a series of Q&A lives focusing on PDA and Education. This session will discuss speech and language therapy, looking at best practice to support PDAers. This Q&A is suitable for both professionals and parents & carers.
Our guest speaker for this event will be Libby Hill, a consultant Speech and Language therapist with 37 years experience.
Navigating distressed behaviours
Thursday 27th April 2023 – 8pm-9pm (BST)
Distressed behaviours arise when our life experiences (sensory, emotional, social, demands etc.) exceed our capacity to cope and we feel overwhelmed and lose control. For PDA people, distressed behaviours may include experiencing meltdowns or shutdowns, running away or self-injury. During this Q&A our guest speakers will answer questions about navigating, supporting and reducing these types of distressed behaviours. Our guest speakers include:
Jez Harris, father to the amazing Bethany – the young woman who spent 3 years in seclusion in secure hospitals due the failure of ‘The System’ to provide suitable care in the community. Beth’s story can be found here. Beth’s journey and her story to date has given Jez insight into her world of distressed behaviour and how the lack of understanding of it led to a preventable failure of care.
Julia Daunt, Author, Blogger, Training Facilitator and PDA Adult – Me, Myself and PDA.
Q&A recordings
You can now pre-register to get the recording of our upcoming Q&A Lives by going to the links below. If you pre-register then the recording will be available to you for 14 days from release.
We also have replays of our past Q&A sessions, where guest speakers answer questions about PDA and specific topics, available to purchase for 30 days by clicking or tapping on the images below.
Already purchased a Q&A recording? Please sign in to the PDA Society training hub (using the same login method used to make the purchase) to access the recording via your dashboard. For further information about using the PDA Society training hub, please refer to our user guide.
Education Other Than At School
Safer PDA Panel Guidance
Emotionally based school avoidance
Effective Provision for PDA Learners
Navigating distressed behaviours
Transitions into college and work
Supporting male parents & carers
Eating Disorders (Lived Experience)
LGBTQIAP+
Sensory Processing
Eating Disorders (Ellern Mede Group)
Understanding social care
Balancing needs within the family
Gaming
Neurodivergent parenting
Sleep
Q&A holidays and special occasions
Teenage years including puberty and personal hygiene
Education in conversation with Jilly, Libby & Kym
Looking after ourselves as caregivers
See all Q&A recordings
Recorded Webinars
In addition to our live training opportunities we are pleased to now offer recorded webinars exploring a variety of topics.
These are available to purchase for £10 each and that will provide you with access to the webinar for 30 days.
PDA approaches – an overview
See all recorded webinars
FREE webinars
The following pre-recoded webinars, videos and podcasts which may be of interest to parents and carers are free to watch by clicking or tapping on the images below.
Introduction to PDA
What is PDA?
Q&A: What is PDA for parents & carers
Demand Avoidance of the PDA Kind
PDA & school avoidance
PDA & masking
Best practice – the PDA community’s voice
Best practice – the professional voice
See all free webinars
If you aren’t sure which course is the right one for you, or have any questions about any of our training, or would like to enquire about costings or making a booking on behalf of an organisation, please email* our training team at: training@pdasociety.org.uk
*Please note: our emails can sometimes be filtered into junk/spam/social/promotions folders – please check yours if you haven’t heard back from us in your inbox within 3-5 working days.