A book review : Can I tell you about Pathological Demand Avoidance syndrome?

Can I tell you about Pathological Demand Avoidance syndrome? is a great little book by Ruth Fidler and Phil Christie that can be read over a couple of cups of coffee but still contains enough to be usefully informative about Pathological Demand Avoidance, or PDA ~ a condition that forms part of the autism spectrum.

After the foreword and introduction, the first 31 pages (illustrated by Jonathon Powell) are written in the voice of Issy, a 11 year old girl with PDA, who describes what life's like for her and what can help.  This part of the book aims to be particularly helpful for young people to read, to learn about their own PDA, or someone else's, and is recommended for readers age 7 and upwards ~ assuming they're open to reading about it!

Then, over the following 8 pages, the authors describe further how all adults ~ carers and professionals ~ might work together to best support a child with PDA, exploring a list of 12  key things that can be done which combine to form what the authors call an "altered approach" to helping.

And, believe me, a very specialised approach is definitely needed ~ at home & in education especially ~ to help someone wired to avoid demands (demands that the average person wouldn't even recognise as demands) and whose need to be in control increases in line with their level of anxiety as they try to manage that anxiety.

As a parent of a child with PDA, I'd say this book clearly, simply and empathetically describes what PDA is, from the point of view of the person with PDA and the people around them. 

Importantly, I believe it's a very accurate reflection of the condition, what lies behind the behaviours it causes, and the approaches that work best to support ~ there was nothing in this book I didn't recognise or agree with!

In fact, I found this book really useful in forming a summary checklist of how autism, or PDA, manifests itself in my child(ren) ~ developed for the purpose of sharing with any new adults in their lives (eg new club leader, new orthodontist, etc) who just need to understand what their differences are, what their behaviours mean and how best to engage with them to gain their trust and cooperation. 

For the complete novice this book is a very useful introduction to PDA, providing a quick and efficient way to understand PDA and how it differentiates from, and overlaps with, typical autism (if autism can ever be typical), so it's good to share with family, or school, for example, or anyone who needs to know but is not keen on reading lengthy tomes!

For those already living, or working, with PDA it's an equally useful reference for developing a better approach to supporting someone with the condition.

Links to further reading:

What is Pathological Demand Avoidance? on the National Autistic Society website includes more useful information (contributed to by Phil Christie), further reading suggestions (including this book) and links to other online content including the PDA Society.

So, what are you waiting for?  Pop the kettle on!