PDA USA: Pathological Demand Avoidance

From our newest blog, PANS/PANDAS and PDA:

“As awareness of PDA has grown, with it a subset of families has come forward too with the suprising similar symptoms as part of their PANS diagnosis. And if the behavioral similarities weren't enough to confuse this topic, it's our experience that there does seem to be an overlap between the PDA community and children who develop PANS--meaning even after treating their PANS, many of these effected children then show their underlying PDA traits.”

Written by CEO Brook Madera (No Pressure PDA) with insights from The SpecDrüm

PANS/PANDAS and PDA Join now to unlock exclusive PDA USA content

Our book study starts next week!

For our next book we will be reading Navigating PDA in America with Diane Gould

Skills from this study:
A framework for explaining PDA to professionals
What are the unique challenges of supporting PDA when offered autism supports
Techniques for emotional wellbeing in parenting
How to better support the educational setting
..plus connect with other PDA families!

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/book-study-navigating-pda-in-america-with-diane-gould-book-not-included

One of our PDA USA members asked the question, "What hill do you die on when it comes to living low demand?"

Families new to low demand ask variations of this, and since it comes up so frequently (and since one of our admins wrote such a detailed and helpful response) we decided to share it here for future reference:

https://pda-usa.org/supporters/posts/245736

Group Discussion: What hill to die on Join now to unlock exclusive PDA USA content

Please don’t believe everything you read on social media about PDA, even when it’s presented in very confident tones by so-called “experts.”

I’ve just read yet another post this morning that talked endlessly about “behaviours,” “what to do when they refuse,” “how to respond,” and “strategies” that were essentially behaviour modification dressed up as neurodivergent-affirming practice.

If the focus is still on compliance, praise, reward systems, consequences, “planned ignoring,” or managing the child’s behaviour without properly understanding the nervous system underneath it, then it is not genuinely PDA-informed support.

Where is the discussion about reducing language when a child is escalated?
Where is the understanding that too much talking can increase threat?
Where is the recognition that anxiety and loss of autonomy drive the presentation?
Where is the focus on environment, co-regulation, relational safety, sensory load, flexibility, trust, and collaborative support?

Children and young people with a PDA profile are not “being difficult.” They are often overwhelmed, dysregulated, and operating from a nervous system that perceives everyday demands as threat.

You cannot reward a child out of survival mode.
You cannot sticker-chart your way through panic.
And you cannot behaviour-manage a nervous system into feeling safe.

We desperately need more critical thinking around PDA content online, because confident misinformation is still misinformation.

Amy & Brook are back!

Tomorrow at our usual time we talk about finding our voice in advocacy spaces, and finding safe community.

Facebook live at 12 pm PT/3 pm ET

FREE RESOURCE 🎉

Sally Cat and I have turned our first module in our Masterclass “What is PDA?” into a standalone training that’s available ✨ free ✨

Download here: https://pda-insiders.circle.so/checkout/introduction-to-pda?coupon_code=INTROFREE

It comes with:

- a 30 min fully animated module
- a voluntary quiz after
- steps to answer “what’s next?” if you want to learn more!