These slides were developed for a Teaching Hub webinar in February 2025.
Here’s the session overview:
Neurodivergent Friendly Schools: PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance)
This course equips school staff with practical strategies to support students with Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA)—a profile within the autistic community characterised by extreme anxiety around everyday demands. By understanding the roots of demand avoidance and adopting low-pressure, flexible approaches, staff can reduce anxiety and foster trust-based relationships that help students thrive. Participants will explore key principles such as demand flexibility, emotional regulation, sensory support, and collaborative problem-solving.
If you were there, I hope these are a helpful aide-memoire. If not, I hope they make enough sense without me to be useful. If you’d like to download them, you can do so via this page on Patreon.
Further Resources
Here are resources I referred to in the session:
- DOWNLOAD: PDA Language Swaps
- DOWNLOAD: All about me sheet – fast relationship building
- DOWNLOAD: Breathing Techniques
- DOWNLOAD: Comfort Audit
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***For more information about my speaking and training work,take a look at my speaker pack below, check out my speaking page or email my lovely agent Ellie.***
