PDA experiences & stories

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The PDA-Saurus

The PDA-Saurus has decided to embark on an adventure to find her autonomy, but will she find it? Come along on her journey of self discovery, as she meets new friends and discovers who she really is. This book invites PDA children into a world where they can see themselves validated and understood. This book can help children understand their PDA but also gives parents, caregivers, and teachers tips on supporting PDA children. Author: Sophie Cook Published: June 2023   Find on Author's website

Understanding PDA: For Kids & Grown Ups

'Understanding PDA: For Kids & Grown Ups' is a book about Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), from the perspective of a little boy called Ethan. Ethan shares his personal experiences with PDA, and how it affects his ability to handle certain demands and expectations. The book offers valuable insight and helpful tips for those who want to support PDA individuals. It is hoped that readers will gain a deeper understanding of PDA, and encourage the world around PDA people to better support them. Author: Stacey Freeman, Max Freeman & Jay Freeman Published: 15 June 2023 Find on Amazon

Calendar Girl: The memoirs of a PDA child in a dysfunctional family

Calendar Girl is the first of Sally Cat’s planned series of short memoirs which, book by book, will recount her entire childhood with the aid of her rare photographic, calendar memory. This first book, covering the author’s first eight years, includes crystal clear memories of babyhood, toddlerhood and young childhood of growing up in a dysfunctional, undiagnosed neurodivergent family. The short memoir’s purpose is to communicate the lived experience of an internalising PDA child to parents seeking to understand their own kids. Available in paperback and Kindle edition. Sally Cat is kindly donating all royalties from this book to PDA Society.   Author: Sally Cat   Find on Amazon

All the Pieces of Me

From the bestselling authors of Can You See Me? comes the fourth exceptional Tally book! Year 9 can be tough for everyone, but for Tally it feels even tougher. Everything seems to be changing as she and her friends get older. Make-up, boys, social media, GCSE prep – why is it all starting to feel so different? Tally has always known that being autistic means some things are harder for her than they are for other people. But becoming a teenager has left Tally feeling like she has no idea who she even is anymore…   Authors: Co-written by 14-year-old autistic blogger Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott Publisher: Scholastic   Find on publisher's website   Other books in this series: Can You See Me? Do You Know Me? Ways to Be Me

Helping Your Child with PDA Live a Happier Life

Drawing on the author's personal experience of parenting a child with PDA, this insightful and informative guide offers strategies and tips for all aspects of daily life, including sensory issues, education and negotiation. Full of information and support, this book is not intended to provide information on how to change your children. Rather, it is focused on creating the type of environment that will allow children to be authentically themselves, thereby enabling them to flourish and thrive.   Author: Alice Running Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers   Find on publisher's website

The Adventures of Pickle

To most people, a pebble on the beach is just that – a pebble. For a little girl with Pathological Demand Avoidance, it’s much more and a very special bond is formed. To help with her anxiety, the little girl chooses Pickle the pebble to accompany her through all that life throws at her, becoming her soothing sensory friend. Light-hearted and sometimes emotional, this book is based on a true story. The Adventures of Pickle explores the roller-coaster ride that the whole family (including the little black dog!) goes through when faced with this little-understood part of the Autism Spectrum.   Author: Zelda Mothins Illustrator: Hattie Hyder   Find on Amazon

The Family Experience of PDA

An Illustrated Guide to Pathological Demand Avoidance. Eliza Fricker gets it. Describing her perfectly imperfect experience of raising a PDA child, with societal judgements and internal pressures, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, resentful and alone. This book's comedic illustrations explain these challenging situations and feelings in a way that words simply cannot, will bring some much-needed levity back into PDA parenting. Humorous anecdotes with a compassionate tone remind parents that they are not alone, and they're doing a great job. If children are safe, happy, and you leave the house on time, who cares about some smelly socks? A light-hearted and digestible guide to being a parent to a PDA child covering everything from tolerance levels, relationships and meltdowns to collaboration, flexibility, and self care to dip in and out as your schedule allows to help get to grips with this complex condition. This book is an essential read for any parent with a PDA child, to help better understand your child, build support systems and carve out some essential self care time guilt free.   Author: Eliza Fricker Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers   Find on Amazon

Being Julia

A Personal Account of Living with Pathological Demand Avoidance. Diagnosed with Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) at aged 12 and writing this memoir at age 37, Julia Daunt depicts the ins and out of PDA and its symptoms, while maintaining a positive outlook on what is possible to achieve. Co-written with professional specialist Ruth Fidler, it covers how PDA impacts Julia's life, including meltdowns, sensory issues and communication in relationships. Including examples of school reports and handwritten letters, a chapter written from Julia's partner's perspective and even an example of Julia's favourite recipe, this warm and personal look at living and thriving with PDA is informative and inspiring.   Authors: Ruth Fidler & Julia Daunt Publishers: Jessica Kingsley Publishers   Find on publisher's website

Ways to Be Me

From the bestselling author duo behind Can You See Me? comes this exceptional portrayal of autism diagnosis, with diary entries by 12-year-old autistic author Libby Scott based on her own experiences of autism with a demand avoidant profile. Taking place before Can You See Me? and Do You Know Me? this standout prequel follows Tally through her autism diagnosis in her final year of primary school. Ten-year-old Tally had high hopes for Year 6. Being in the top class at school means a whole host of privileges, but even better than that is the school production – and Tally is convinced she’ll win the lead role. But at home, things aren’t going so well. Mum and Dad have been making Tally feel pressured and upset, and Tally wishes things didn’t bother her so much – but they do, and sometimes she feels so misunderstood and frustrated, she could explode. Then Tally’s mum and dad tell her about something she’s never heard about before. Something called autism. And everything changes.   Authors: Co-written by 12-year-old autistic blogger Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott Publisher: Scholastic   Find on publisher's website   Other books in this series: Can You See Me? Do You Know Me? All the Pieces of Me  

Pretty Darn Awesome

Pretty Darn Awesome: Divergent not Deficient: Understanding Pathological Demand Avoidance on the Autism Spectrum ‘Pretty Darn Awesome’ is a story about a little boy with Pathological Demand Avoidance - a not so well known profile of the autistic spectrum. It looks at his daily struggles but more importantly his amazing strengths. A useful introduction to PDA and a way to share it and explain it positively to children, siblings, family members, teachers and classmates.   Author: Lauren O'Grady   Find on Amazon

Pathological Demand Avoidance Explained

Pathological Demand Avoidance Explained. Available in paperback and as a Kindle/E-Book. What is PDA? What does it feel like? What does it involve? PDA stands for 'pathological demand avoidance'. It describes a neurotype (type of brain) which is classed as part of the autism spectrum. There's more to PDA than avoiding things. This book describes what PDA is using simple words and pictures. Author and illustrator Sally Cat is an adult PDA author, artist and blogger. She has posted hundreds of graphic memes describing PDA on her popular Facebook page. This book uses the same format to communicate the lived experience of the condition in an easy to understand way via 75 memes. The topics covered are PDA avoidance, control-need, anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, social mimicry & masking, emotions, overload, meltdown & shutdown, school and adult life. Royalties for the book are kindly donated directly to PDA Society.   Author: Sally Cat   Find on Amazon

Underdogs: Tooth and Nail

Different battles need different ways of thinking. Book 2 in the Underdogs series. Autism. Dyslexia. Anxiety. A million cloned enemies. The Underdogs have returned. A dystopian novel with a neurodiverse teenage character set, including a lead character Ewan who has a diagnosis of a PDA profile of autism. Three weeks have passed since the events of Underdogs. The British population continues its imprisonment in Nicholas Grant's giant walled Citadels, under the watchful eye of innumerable cloned soldiers. The heroes of Oakenfold Special School remain their last chance of freedom. As a result of their last mission, Grant has been forced to speed up his plans for Great Britain and beyond. Ewan, Kate, McCormick and the rest of the Underdogs must face the horrors of his new research, knowing that it raises the stakes as high as they will go. Failing this battle will not merely result in losing soldiers and friends, but in losing the war entirely. According to the odds, the Underdogs are near-certain to fail. But they have spent their whole lives being underestimated and did not survive this long by respecting the odds.   Author: Chris Bonnello Publisher: Unbound Digital   Find on Amazon Find eBook on publisher's website

Understand Me

Understand Me: An inspiring journey of a boy with PDA 9 year old Spencer recalls his struggles at mainstream school and takes us on a journey of his experiences whilst going through diagnosis and the EHCP process to a successful specialist placement. Spencer’s feelings of isolation and sadness, and his longing to be understood and accepted, are recounted in his own powerful words. This book will be an inspiration for children, parents and teaching professionals who are living and working with a PDA profile of autism. Spencer's Mum (Katie Stott) has also written and published a book - Life on an Alien Planet: A PDA boy and his journey through the education system. Author: Spencer Stott Publisher: Independently published   Find on Amazon

Do You Know Me?

The sequel to last year’s bestselling Can You See Me? Co-written by autistic twelve-year-old Libby Scott, with diary entries based on her own experiences of autism with a demand avoidant profile. Great for reading with friends and family and engaging a wide audience, this book sees autistic protagonist Tally return in another compelling and authentic story of fitting in and being different. Told from Tally’s own point of view, the story follows her as she goes on a school trip and falls in with the popular crowd. Tally has learned to be proud of her autism – but now she realises that others in her circle still feel forced to hide their true selves. Will she be brave enough to stand up to her new friends, the bullies? Told with great realism from Tally’s unique standpoint and exploring the familiar tensions of school life, this engaging and relatable book is guaranteed to get older readers thinking. It helps children empathise with friends who may have similar neurodiversity, and allows autistic readers to see their world reflected back at them. The other author is Rebecca Westcott, who has won acclaim for her books Dandelion Clocks and Violet Ink.   Authors: Co-written by twelve-year-old autistic [...]

Super Shamlal – Living and Learning with Pathological Demand Avoidance

This illustrated storybook is aimed at children aged 7-11 to help them recognise the features of PDA, and develop tools to support them. A helpful introduction for parents and carers explains how it feels to live with PDA, and the appendices at the back provide useful strategies to be adopted at school and at home. Author: K. I. Al-Ghani  Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers   Find on publisher's website

Life on an Alien Planet: A PDA boy and his journey through the education system

Katie Stott provides a detailed account of the PDA specific behaviours in her son Fraser and how she learnt to lessen the impact of these by focusing on the cause (anxiety and a need for control), rather than the effect. Katie explains how Fraser’s sensory issues also contributed to his every day challenges at school as he became increasingly isolated from his classmates and faced risk of expulsion when the school became unable to cope. The book goes on to explore Katie’s fight to gain recognition of PDA in school and despite significant obstacles, the way she eventually managed to secure an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and a specialist school so that Fraser could learn, make friends and thrive once again. Also see Understand Me: An inspiring journey of a boy with PDA by Spencer Stott.   Author: Katie Stott Publisher: Independently published   Find on SEN Books

PDA – My Daughter is Not Naughty

Jane Sherwin's honest and uplifting account provides insight into the challenges of bringing up a child with Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA). After years of misdiagnosis, Jane's daughter, Mollie, was diagnosed with PDA at the age of seven, and we follow her experiences pre and post diagnosis to age 10 as she attends school, interacts with the outside world and approaches adolescence. Throughout, Jane provides commentary on her daughter's behaviour and the impact it has on her family, explaining the 'why' of PDA traits, including the need for control, meltdowns, obsessive behaviour and sensory issues. She reveals the strategies that have worked for Mollie and provides essential information on obtaining a diagnosis and raising awareness of PDA. The book also includes an interview with Mollie. Full of information and support, and with a focus on understanding the child and how they sees the world, this book will be of immeasurable value to the parents and families of children with PDA as well as the professionals working with them, particularly teachers and teaching assistants, SEN co-ordinators, psychologists, outreach workers and social workers. Author: Jane Sherwin Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers   Find on publisher's website

PDA by PDAers

PDA by PDAers: From Anxiety to Avoidance and Masking to Meltdowns This book is a collection of genuine insights and experiences from people living with PDA, adapted from their interactions on a popular online support group. It includes frank discussions of topics relevant to PDA, including work, relationships and managing meltdowns, making it a vital resource for both individuals and professionals. Author: Sally Cat Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers   Find on publisher's website

Its a PanDA thing

“It’s a PanDA thing” is the third in a series of short picture stories aimed at supporting those first conversations between parents, carers and their children about an Autism, Aspergers or PDA related diagnosis. Inspired by her own journey with her now 8 yr old boy Leo and his brother Ben, the books do not aim to guide or explain symptoms or what they mean - just to very simply recognise and accept what it might feel like to those on the spectrum and those close to them - especially siblings and loved ones. Beautifully illustrated with the incredible artwork of Zeke Clough you will enjoy the gentle rhyming lilt of Rachel’s prose and also the easy perspective she provides on her boys. With parents and carer notes provided by the PDA society. To read the early part of Leo's journey see: The Thing: a young boy's journey with Asperger Syndrome.   Author: Rachel Jackson   Find on SEN books

Can You See Me?

With diary entries written by eleven-year-old Libby Scott, based on her own experiences of autism with a demand avoidant profile, this pioneering book, written in collaboration with esteemed author Rebecca Westcott, has been widely praised for its realistic portrayal of autism. Tally is eleven years old and she's just like her friends. Well, sometimes she is. If she tries really hard to be. Because there's something that makes Tally not the same as her friends. Something she can't cover up, no matter how hard she tries: Tally is autistic. Tally's autism means there are things that bother her even though she wishes they didn't. It means that some people misunderstand, her and feel frustrated by her. People think that because Tally's autistic, she doesn't realise what they're thinking, but Tally sees and hears - and notices - all of it. And, honestly? That's not the easiest thing to live with. Perfect for fans of Wonder and The Goldfish Boy, this sucker punch to the heart is valuable reading for children and adults alike. Endearing, insightful and warmly uplifting, Can You See Me? is a story of autism, empathy and kindness that will touch readers of all ages. Authors: Co-written by eleven-year-old autistic blogger Libby Scott [...]

Underdogs

One million cloned soldiers. A nation imprisoned. A group of neurodiverse rebels fighting back. A dystopian novel with a neurodiverse teenage character set, including a lead character Ewan who has a diagnosis of a PDA profile of autism. Britain as we know it lies destroyed. In the aftermath of the most daring military coup in history, the surviving population is crammed inside giant Citadels, watched over by an army of cloned soldiers. The hope of a nation lies in a tiny number of freedom fighters hidden in the abandoned countryside most of whom are teenagers who escaped the attack on their special school. Seen by many as no more than misfits and problem children , this band of fighters could never have imagined the responsibility that now rests on their shoulders. But perhaps this war needs a different kind of hero. After a lifetime of being defined by their weaknesses, the teenagers must learn how to play to their strengths, and become the best they can be in a world that has never been on their side.   Author: Chris Bonnello Publisher: Unbound Digital   Find on Amazon

PDA in the Family

PDA in the Family is an honest account of Steph's experience with her daughter, Sasha, and provides valuable insights from the whole family. Steph became a trainer for PDA Society over ten years ago, and she regularly helps other families and educators learn as much as possible about PDA. Author: Steph Curtis Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers Reviews: Ruth Fidler, Education Consultant: Steph's personal account of parenting her daughter is a triumph. This honest, reflective and positive book will be both informative and supportive to so many families and professionals. I can't recommend it enough for anyone whose life is touched by a young PDAer. Phil Christie, Consultant Child Psychologist: This detailed and positive account will resonate with other families and those involved with a child with a PDA profile. Full of practical advice and insightful reflections, Steph vividly illustrates her daughter's development and the influence this has on family life and relationships. She also describes the complexities in navigating the diagnostic and educational pathways, which will be shared by many parents. If you purchase the book through our Amazon shop we will also earn a small commission as an Amazon affiliate. Find on Amazon