Top Ten information posts about PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance)

For anyone new to Pathological Demand Avoidance, or for those who may have missed key thoughts on PDA of mine from years ago, here's a list of my top ten PDA posts. Some of these are linked at the bottom of every post I write but I thought it would be worth having one clear summary post as a signpost for information. There are so many posts on my blog from the 12 years I've been writing. Each one gives a snippet of info, whether that's my thoughts and feelings at the time or our daughter's reactions to life, but of course I appreciate not everyone has time to read all of those earlier posts. The posts listed below are mostly less personal ones where I tried to give more depth to how I saw and understood PDA. I hope they have helped some families already but I would be even happier knowing they've reached more people!

(Photo by Luke Southern on Unsplash)

Ten Things You Need To Know About Pathological Demand Avoidance

The Difference between PDA and ODD

Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) Characteristics

What is PDA? Does my child have Pathological Demand Avoidance?

Autism with demand avoidance or Pathological Demand Avoidance?

Rewards and Consequences with PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance)

Books about the Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) profile of autism

Challenging Behaviour and PDA

Strategies for PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance)

My tenth post in this list includes some links to some other blogs and resources and also contains lots of positive comments from parents and carers of children with PDA. 

Our PDA Story {week 45} Positives of PDA

Twelve years ago today, I hadn't ever heard the words Pathological Demand Avoidance. I went to a paediatrician's appointment with our younger daughter and was told she was probably autistic. She was just two and a half years old.

That same day, I started writing this blog. I had no clue where it would lead me; I was simply starting a diary to document what was happening to our family. I wanted others to understand why our daughter acted and reacted the way she did. A few months after the autism diagnosis, we stumbled across descriptions online of Pathological Demand Avoidance, and had our lightbulb moment. Twelve years on from that very first blog post, I'm still tapping away at the keyboard but with a different goal in mind - trying to help others understand more about PDA and live with this type of autism, like we do.

Now feels like the right time to look back on our life since that diagnosis and to finish writing that book I've signed a contract for.... but first, this 'anniversary' post. I know much more than I did back then but feel like I am still learning every day. I've always been a 'keeping it real' kind of blogger, open and honest, but the truth is that some experiences are tough to write about at this stage.

We are in the midst of our own difficulties with the education system; this state of affairs happened to coincide with me publishing guest posts in a series called 'Not Fine in School'. That series will return at some point but my book writing needs to take priority for now.

The book will be about living with autism and Pathological Demand Avoidance; our experiences from the time of that very early diagnosis, on through school and family life, up to the present day. I hope it will help other families as much as the current published literature on PDA has helped me. 

The fact that some of my blog posts have been read by many people all over the world makes me happy because I want our daughter, and others like her, to be better understood and accommodated in society. Pathological Demand Avoidance is very real and I always point people who want more information or support in the direction of the amazing PDA Society, a charity whose volunteers and trustees have much lived experience of this.

To all those who have been reading my blog for years, thank you for staying with me and showing me much support along the way. To new readers, you are of course very welcome, please do stick around and I hope reading the posts in this list helps you understand more about PDA. And remember, sharing is caring!