Pathological demand avoidance (explained by ducks) | Diploma Duck

Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) is an autistic profile characterised by an extreme avoidance of everyday demands and expectations, driven by anxiety and a heightened sensitivity to loss of autonomy. PDA isn’t about defiance. It’s about threat perception. When a demand feels like loss of control, even neutral language can land as pressure. Sometimes it isn’t the task that escalates things — it’s the wording. A small shift in language can be the difference between cooperation and crisis. The g

So what is PDA? 👇👇 Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) was a term first penned in the 1980’s by Professor Elizabeth Newson. She began investigating a complex group of children who were similar to each other but confusing to professionals in that the children shared some common challenges with autistic children yet were not so typical in their presentation. However, in studying these individuals she began to notice some similarities that all of the children shared – the central feature being ‘a