Raising awareness – action you can take

The PDA Society has a programme of engagement with national institutions and local services to see improvements in support for those with a PDA profile of autism. We’re often asked how others can help raise awareness about PDA. Below are several ways you can get involved and please join Team PDA to find out more.

  • Share the PDA Society’s materials on social media – we have a very active social media presence and regularly share useful resources & information that you can share with others.
  • Participate in research – we regularly share information about current research via our social media feeds.
  • Contact your local autism leaders – each area works slightly differently but if you can, try find out who is responsible for commissioning local services (Integrated Care Board) and which strategic groups oversee them (sometime they’re called Autism Strategy groups or Autism Champions or the Autism Partnership board). You could then contact them with information about services in your area and information about PDA (our Practice Guidance on identifying & assessing a PDA profile and Being Misunderstood regional reports would be useful documents, along with details of PDA being included in the Government’s announcement about the review of the Autism Strategy; the Dept of Health and Social Care’s statement about PDA; the NDTI PDA webinar and examples of local position statements on PDA). You may find it more effective to do this alongside other people, so if there’s a PDA support group in your area maybe you could combine forces or maybe you could work alongside other local autism charities or groups. It’s important to highlight what the solutions are as well as any problems – the key is for the PDA profile of autism to be on everyone’s radar, so this could involve a presentation or training for senior staff (the PDA Society may be able to help with this). It can take lots of time and effort before progress is made, so do be prepared for the long haul!
  • Contact your MP –  let your MP know about your thoughts on local services and ask them to support your activities; you could also involve your local newspaper, radio or TV.
  • Share your story – there’s lots of ways you can do this, please contact us for more info.
  • Set up a local support group if there isn’t one in your area.
  • Help the PDA Society
  • Raise funds for the PDA Society