Adopting a PDA- friendly mindset
For autistic people with a PDA profile, traditional support approaches can often cause more harm than good. Things like firm routines and hierarchical relationships can increase anxiety and reduce trust.
For educational professionals, the right mindset is an important first step in helping manage the anxiety and resistance demands can create. Focusing on understanding, compassion, and co-regulation rather than control or compliance is important. It’s about more than tactics; it’s a philosophy that will help you choose the right approach at the right time. Understanding that stress caused by demands can impact on every area of a PDAers life is a good start. As is knowing that this anxiety gets in the way of being able to do things to keep themselves safe and happy – and that this is not a choice.
As a professional working within a system, there may be limitations in the changes you can influence about how your setting runs. But anyone can work to build values into the relationships they have with people they support.
These are three fundamental values that will help you work effectively with PDAers:
1. Trust
Consistency, warmth, and honesty are key. Treating anxious behaviour as communication (rather than defiance) builds security. When PDAers trust that they’re safe, anxiety subsides, and daily tasks become more manageable.
2. Equity
Relationships grounded in shared power reduce anxiety. It’s about letting go of control, listening deeply, and negotiating decisions. This approach reassures individuals that you respect their autonomy, reducing tension and the urge to avoid.
3. Compassion
Recognise distressed behaviour as an anxiety response. This mindset shift can be difficult, but viewing meltdowns or refusal through a compassionate lens fosters more effective engagement.
The PDA Society’s PANDA mnemonic outlines ways to introduce the kinds of flexible approaches that tend to help. These aren’t separate strategies to apply one by one but overlapping ideas that support each other.
The letters stand for:
- P – Prioritise and compromise
- A – Anxiety management
- N – Negotiation and collaboration
- D – Disguise and manage demands
- A – Adaptation
It’s helpful to think of PANDA not as a checklist, but as a gentle guide – especially helpful if you’re new to PDA support. The real work happens through connection, curiosity and trial and error.
You can find our guide to PDA approaches for everyone here. It covers the fundamentals that will help you support PDAers you come across. The rest of the information in this guide is healthcare specific.