Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA)

PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) is widely understood to be a profile on the autism spectrum. PDA involves the avoidance of everyday demands and the use of ‘social’ strategies as part of this avoidance.

PDA profile features include:

• resisting and avoiding the ordinary demands of life
• using social strategies as part of the avoidance
• appearing ‘socially able’ but this may mask underlying differences/difficulties in social interaction and communication
• experiencing intense emotions and mood swings
• appearing comfortable in role play, pretense and fantasy
• intense focus, often on other people (real or fictional)
• a need for control, often driven by anxiety or an automatic ‘threat response’
• conventional approaches in support, parenting or teaching are ineffective

(credit: PDA Society)

• Being Julia
• ​​​​​​​PDA – My Daughter is Not Naughty Pathological Demand Avoidance Explained
• Calendar Girl: The memoirs of a PDA child in a dysfunctional family
• The Family Experience of PDA
• Ways to Be Me

**We encourage you to buy local, buy from a Black-owned bookstore, or buy from a queer-owned bookstore.

• https://www.pdasociety.org.uk
• http://www.sallycatpda.co.uk
• https://www.kristyforbes.com.au
• https://nopressurepda.com
• https://www.facebook.com/PDAOurWay
• https://www.facebook.com/RikosPDApage1
• https://www.amandadiekman.net​​​​​​​

Our list of resources is constantly expanding, if you would like your content to be featured here, please email info@neurosparkhealth.com.