Young people
Found 20 listings
Winning a Blue Peter competition – Naomi’s story
Hi, I’m Naomi (age 12), I have PDA and I recently won a Blue Peter (BP) competition!
The whole filming experience was pretty overwhelming but also gave me some amazing and life-long memories. I think PDAers find it really difficult to experience and try new things as we usually try to [...]
James’ story
James is 14 and kindly shared this extract he wrote about his experience of PDA. His insightful and honest account covers how PDA can be misunderstood; masking; school; the need to have ‘demand free’ time; the importance of trust in relationships; the impact of the Covid pandemic and what [...]
Max’s story – Why Is He Still Here? book extracts
“Why Is He Still Here?” is a memoir written by Max, a young autistic adult with a PDA profile. It’s a powerful insight into his experiences of the education system and gaming world.
We’re grateful to Max for allowing us to share some extracts from his book to help [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Recognising and regulating emotions – helpful books for children
Recognising and regulating emotions is something most of our children find very difficult. Whilst our children are young, the adults around them will need to be very vigilant in spotting the signs that anxiety is escalating. As our children grow older and their emotional intelligence develops, they may be [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
The Spectrum Girl’s Survival Guide
How to Grow Up Awesome and Autistic
"Never be ashamed of being different: it is this difference that makes you extraordinary and unique."
This essential go-to guide gives you all the advice and tools you'll need to help you flourish and achieve what you want in life. From the answers to [...]
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 [...]
Q&A with Sage – teenage PDAer
Q&A with a PDA teenager Sage who volunteered to answer questions posed by the online PDA community on a variety of topics. Sage wants to “help people understand that there’s light at the end of the tunnel and that PDA can be managed when it’s understood properly.”
Demand-Anxiety Cycle: resource template
A tool to help young people, parents & professionals understand demand avoidance and talk together.
Tick boxes that apply, write on it, or edit the document….
Whatever works for you.
.fusion-button.button-10 {border-radius:2px;}Download editable copy (docx)
What PDA means to me – editable resource
This resource was created to help a child going from being home-schooled into a special school, but could be used in many other situations. It lists traits like high anxiety, impulsivity and demand avoidance that made life difficult, with specific examples and thoughts on what helps. It also has [...]
General PDA support
A range of third party Facebook groups covering different topics, for different audiences.
General
Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) Group
The Autism and PDA Group
PDA Inclusive Universal
PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) UK Group
PDA Global Group
PDA Pathological Demand Avoidance Families & Practitioners (formerly: PDA Pathological Demand Avoidance Discussion)
The NEW [...]
Blogs and videos by children & young people
Me Just Me Facebook page follows a young teen who shares stories and real life experiences about PDA, autism, anxiety, PTSD and home education. Me just me also advocates for teen authenticity and Neurodiversity and discusses teen mental health, self care and positivity. Also on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
Libby's Autism [...]
Me and My PDA
Me and My PDA: A Guide to Pathological Demand Avoidance for Young People
This beautifully illustrated guide helps young people with Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) to understand their diagnosis, develop self-awareness and implement their own personalised problem-solving strategies. Written in consultation with young people with PDA and their families, this [...]
Can I tell you about Pathological Demand Avoidance syndrome?
Can I tell you about Pathological Demand Avoidance syndrome?: A guide for friends, family and professionals
Meet Issy – an 11-year-old girl with pathological demand avoidance syndrome (PDA), a condition on the autism spectrum. Issy invites readers to learn about PDA from her perspective, helping them to understand how simple, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
The Red Beast
Deep inside everyone, a red beast lies sleeping.
When it is asleep, the red beast is quite small, but when it wakes up, it begins to grow and grow.
This is the story of a red beast that was awakened.
Rufus is in the school playground when his friend John kicks a [...]