Pathological demand avoidance (explained by ducks) | Diploma Duck

PDA Autism (Pathological Demand Avoidance) describes a profile within the autism spectrum where individuals have an extreme, anxiety-driven need to avoid everyday demands and expectations, even things they want to do, to maintain a sense of control, often using social strategies, excuses, or mood swings to resist. It's not a separate diagnosis but a specific way autism presents, characterized by intense autonomy-seeking and significant challenges with routine, instructions, and internal needs li

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