Demand Avoidance in College: 

When a learner refuses everything we ask, it can feel like defiance, but it is far more often anxiety wearing a convincing disguise. This session looks at what demand avoidance really is, why the usual approaches tend to make it worse, and what to do instead, with communication strategies built for FE and the realities of working with young adults who can vote with their feet. It covers how to lower the pressure without lowering your expectations, how to hold firm on the things that genuinely can’t move while letting everything else flex, and how to stay steady yourself when a learner says no.

You’ll come away able to:

• Tell demand avoidance apart from defiance
• Lower the pressure without lowering expectations
• Use language that invites rather than instructs
• Avoid the trap where total flexibility now blocks any change later
• Stay steady when a learner says no