Studies & Commentaries
Found 15 listings
Summary of peer research into PDA by Sally Cat
This blog post covers Sally Cat's motivations for carrying out peer research on PDA, including the evidence and knowledge gaps that she wanted to help fill. It summarises two different pieces of peer research she has conducted:
Her 2016 'Big Traits' study, which took a list of potential PDA [...]
Parental Blame and the PDA Profile of Autism
This report presents the findings of a survey of 1016 parents and carers of PDA children.
The aims of the survey were:
to explore how prevalent parental blame is among families with PDA children
to identify any patterns around when, how and why parental blame manifests
to find out if [...]
What can be learnt from parents about school avoidance in Autistic pupils?
What can we learn from parents and caregivers of school-aged Autistic children to inform current Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) intervention approaches in England?
A small study written as part submission to MEd Special Education Autism (Children) University of Birmingham. Author: Amelia Green BSc (hons) Psychology, GMBPsS
This study was designed [...]
PDA Society 5th anniversary survey report
A report on the main findings of our 5th anniversary survey conducted in Oct/Nov 2020, with statistics and comments from respondents, along with a summary of what the PDA Society is planning during 2021 can be viewed/downloaded here. The main findings are summarised below.
It was very encouraging to know [...]
A critical-insider perspective
A critical-insider perspective on PDA and parenting.
Paula Sanchez first presented her perspective to the Participatory Autism Research Collective (PARC) meeting in 2018. Her work goes back to the accounts of Asperger and finds that some of his descriptions includes traits that might be reflected in the PDA profile.
She explains: [...]
Child Behaviour & Parenting Strategies
The Child Behaviour and Parenting Strategies study was designed to investigate links between child behaviour and parenting strategies, as well as many other factors, with a particular focus on children with developmental disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
This is an update on preliminary findings from the study, which [...]
Differences Between PDA and Non-PDA Autism
A Demonstration of Differences Between PDA and Non-PDA Autism, a transcript of a presentation by Sally Cat at The Autism Show at ExCeL London on 15th June 2019
Sally's introduction explains:
"Hello, I’m Sally Cat I am a PDAer
This means my neurology fits the Pathological Demand Avoidance profile, which is currently classed as [...]
Being Misunderstood – 2018 Survey
Experiences of the PDA Profile of Autism
Education, health and social care services are designed to be 'needs-based' and 'outcomes-focused'.
While the intention is clear, there is a group of autistic people whose needs are frequently not identified in detail, not understood in practice and not fully communicated between professionals. As [...]
Regional results – Being Misunderstood survey
Our Being Misunderstood report published in May 2018 demonstrated the ways in which the PDA profile was being recognised by some clinicians but not by others. It highlighted the poor quality of services and lack of help being provided by those who seek help from CAMHS, and also demonstrated the significant [...]
‘Natures answer to over-conformity’: deconstructing PDA
Abstract
Throughout its history autism has been primarily defined in terms of a pathologised deviancy from normative cognitive functionality, despite protestations to the contrary from autistic writers (Sinclair, 1993, Arnold, 2010, Milton, 2011). More recently however, we have witnessed the wider acceptance of a construction concerning a perceived pervasive developmental [...]
Being Misunderstood in Education
There is currently significant interest in the numbers of children and young people who are excluded from school or find themselves unable to get into school and end up either at home or some form of alternative provision.
The Children's Commissioners' 2019 report ‘Skipping School’ and the Dispatches programme that [...]
Hertfordshire families
A survey of 38 families in Hertfordshire showed that many felt desperate and a majority described how local services had not helped them. These results were published with a call to action, with the support of local Autism charities, and taken to the Herts All-Age Autism Partnership Board with [...]
CRAE research on exclusion
Back to school: Paving the path to re-integration for autistic children previously excluded from education
The Centre for Research on Autism in Education conducted a research project for the NAS into what helped young people who had been excluded to be re-integrated into school. They looked at the work of [...]
PDA Society Conference 2015
The first PDA Society conference took place on September 23rd 2015 in Northampton. The day was a great success, with 240 delegates attending.
A booklet which includes some commentary and photos from the event, plus the key points from the pre-conference survey can be downloaded within the article.
Published: 2015
View article [...]
Survey of Professionals
Overview
Awareness of PDA has been growing rapidy in recent years. The National Autistic Society run annual conferences on the subject and research is now being conducted by a number of different institutions, so understanding of the condition is developing apace.
Parents, schools and health and eductional professionals are finding that [...]