Over the last school year, (I’m writing this in 2019), the term PDA has been cropping up more and more in my involvement with pupils who have an ASD diagnosis. At the start of the year, I didn’t have a clue what it meant (apart from the aversion to a demand) or teaching strategies to help a pupil who may have PDA as part or their Autism profile. So I thought I would take the time to jot down what I have learnt and useful tips and links I have come across.

What does PDA stand for?

PDA stands for Pathological Demand Avoidance and according to the PDA Society can be a diagnosis of part of the PDA profile. Where I am currently based, PDA is not currently diagnosed but we have started seeing it referenced in pupils medical reports from Educational Psychologists.

What are the signs of PDA?

From what I have observed in my classroom and having researched from the internet, the following can be observed:

How can we Educators help?

AS teachers and/or teaching assistants there are many things we can do that will have a positive impact on a learner with PDA. Here are some of the following I have implemented in my ASD CARE Base:

Where can I get further information and or training from?

My little post is a quick overview and is by no means meant to train you. I do though highly recommend that teachers educate themselves further on this area. For more comprehensive training please visit the PDA site and watch their FREE webinars.

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