PDA: Why social workers need to know
Pathological demand avoidance: what is it and why do social workers need to know?
Cathleen Long explains how an understanding of this part of the autism spectrum can help support parents.
This article was published in Community Care - a leading online resource for social workers, in May 2019. It describes why mothers of PDA children can be wrongly accused of perpetrating Fabricated and Induced Illness (FII), and explores the case of Janet and Lucy, who endured two years of child protection meetings, with Jane's parenting repeatedly called into question.
It concludes, parenting a child with a PDA profile of autism can be exhausting and so often, as well having their parenting style scrutinised, parents/carers are left feeling they are ‘wrong’, when the reality is many professionals have much to learn about PDA.
Author: Cathleen Long
Publisher: Community Care