About demand avoidance
Autistic children and adults can experience great stress and anxiety when negotiating a world that doesn’t always make sense to them and it is usual for all people to seek more control when they are anxious.
However, some people have an intense need to seek control as part of their neurotype, going to great lengths to avoid demands placed on them by others. Those with this profile of autism are referred to as experiencing ‘PDA’ or ‘Pathological Demand Avoidance.’ This can also be known as pervasive drive for autonomy or a ‘demand avoidant profile.’
Many parents of children with a demand-avoidant profile struggle to have this recognised, as there’s some controversy over the very existence of PDA as a distinct diagnosis. PDA doesn’t appear in the standard diagnostic manuals, but it’s now been formally recognised by the National Autistic Society as a subtype of autism spectrum conditions.
How can we help?
We know that for people with a profile of PDA, it cannot be assumed that ‘traditional’ strategies designed to help with autism will be effective. In fact, in our experience, some of these strategies can heighten the anxiety to a point that the person will eventually react with an anxiety response, sometimes involving fight or flight, or freezing or fawning. We see this a lot where children are ‘no problem’ in school and then become overtly distressed as they leave the environment they find stressful.
We can identify where a pattern of demand avoidance exists as part of a wider assessment for autism. We profile the person’s behaviour and we are clear where there is a PDA-profile, as this helps the individual or those working or living with the individual to better understand their needs.
