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Keywords: Autism, Pathological Demand Avoidance, Extreme Demand Avoidance, PDA, Education 

Author: Amelia Green

Summary 

This paper is by Amelia Green, a master’s student at the University of Birmingham, and dives into the challenges faced by school aged children with PDA. Based on feedback from over 1,000 parents and young people, her findings shed light on the experiences of PDA children and their families and the urgent need for change, including:

• Struggles with school attendance, exclusions, and lack of support. 

• The importance of EHCPs that accurately reflect needs. 

• How a formal PDA diagnosis can help secure the right support. 

Find out more 

• PDA Society Information Sheet for Teaching Professionals

• The educational experiences of autistic children with and without extreme demand avoidance behaviours. By C. Truman et al (2021).  

• Mapping the educational experiences of children with pathological demand avoidance. By E. Langton and N. Frederickson (2016)