Sunday, 17 January 2010
Mum always knows best
They say Mums always know best, and I'd have to say I agree. As the days go on I'm trying to take things in slowly, but I think it's already dawning on me that my first assumption that Sasha must be borderline is not necessarily the case. Several friends and family are almost disbelieving - 'no, how can that be?' 'but she's such a happy contented little girl' - so either they're good fibbers or it's really not obvious to others. However, as I spend so much of my time with her, all the little things do add up - yes, I know that lots of toddlers like to eat from certain plates or drink out of certain cups, and don't like to wear their clothes sometimes... my elder daughter's insistence on only purple juice or pink plates for over a year may have been a 'sign'.... but with Sasha it's different. It's more than that. Many little things from each of the three 'impairments' as they're known - social interaction, social communication and rigidity of thinking. And then again, so many things she does seem to understand and do - she knows the difference between right and wrong, she can tell facial expressions and tone of voice, she will pass Tamsin's toys back to her and share well - when it suits her! But if the signs have already been spotted by a professional who only spent an hour and a half with her, then possibly they're not as borderline as I thought - when you know what you're looking for. At this stage my biggest fear is that the gap will get bigger and the struggles more profound as she grows older - the best reason there is for fighting for as much help as we can get as soon as we can get it. Will mainstream school be an option? Only time will tell I guess.
Our book, PDA in the Family, is out now! We wrote it to help other people understand more about Pathological Demand Avoidance. It's an account of how family life has been for us since an autism diagnosis for our youngest daughter, and the subsequent lightbulb moment when we heard about PDA: PDA in the Family: Life After the Lightbulb Moment Book Launch
For more books about PDA, click on the image above. To hear more about our story see our 'About Us' page or the summary of our experience in Our PDA Story Week 35. If you are looking for more online reading about Pathological Demand Avoidance, the posts below may help.
- What is PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance)?
- Ten things you need to know about Pathological Demand Avoidance
- Does my child have Pathological Demand Avoidance?
- The difference between PDA and ODD
- Strategies for PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance)
- Pathological Demand Avoidance: Strategies for Schools
- Challenging Behaviour and PDA
- Is Pathological Demand Avoidance real?
- Autism with demand avoidance or Pathological Demand Avoidance?
- Books about the Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) profile of autism
To follow me on other social media channels, you can find me at the following links or click the icons below!
- Facebook: facebook.com/stephstwogirls
- Instagram: instagram.com/stephstwogirls
- Twitter: twitter.com/stephstwogirls
- YouTube: youtube.com/c/stephcurtis