Navigating PDA in America: A Framework to Support Anxious, Demand-Avoidant Autistic Children, Teens and Young Adults

by Ruth Fidler, Diane Gould, Sarah C. Wayland Narrated by Katherine Fenton

Overview

Although Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) has been a recognized autistic profile in the UK for some time, awareness is still growing in America. When parents first learn about it they talk about having a lightbulb moment of understanding their child better. Many described how, having found traditional parenting and behavioral techniques made things worse instead of better, they felt judged and alone. Teachers and school administrators also reported struggling to support their PDA students. The children, teens and young adults themselves were often left feeling misunderstood.

The authors of this book explain PDA with an emphasis on promoting well-being both for PDA individuals and all those who support them. They provide a neurodiversity-affirming framework for supporting anxious, demand avoidant individuals across a range of settings and services. As awareness spreads across the pond, the compassion and clarity in this book will become a valuable guide to many.

Editorial Reviews

Wenn Lawson

This book is full of good news and support highlights for autistic PDAers, families and professionals. Beautifully crafted via first person accounts and professional experiential advantage. From this PDAer, Brilliant!

Alan I. Rosenblatt

An important resource for a small subset of individuals on the autism spectrum who demonstrate more extreme cognitive inflexibility and emotional dysregulation interfering with their ability to comply with the simplest, most routine tasks and demands of daily life. If your child/student/patient with autism is not responding to typical parenting and behavior management approaches as recommended by most professionals, then consider the methods discussed in this book.

Brook Madera

When researching PDA it's hard to sift through what resources are relevant to those of us in the United States, but by pulling from their years of combined professional experience and strong relationship with the adult PDA community, Diane and Ruth are helping bridge the gap. I expect this book to be a staple resource for both parents and professionals.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940192397084
Publisher:	Octopus Books
Publication date:	06/21/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	946,755