quackademicOne of the hardest things about raising a neurodivergent child is that the approved strategies for behaviour management Just Don’t Work.
When you, the parent, are undiagnosed, unsupported & still in denial & shame about your own lifelong neurodivergence the obvious conclusion is ‘it’s like this because I am bad & broken & inadequate & I may as well die’.
From the inside, the experience of being a child like this, or a parent like this, is living with constant, extreme terror. Self loathing & suicidal ideation become part of the daily air we breathe.
My kids are adults now but I still hold this terror in my body. Every day.
The way to understand these kids’ extreme behaviours is to LISTEN TO US. Please.
#neurodivergence #PDA #ProfoundDesireForAutonomy #AutisticElders #trauma
Pathological Demand Avoidance, a little-known profile of autism affecting kids and adults
A surge of professional and personal interest in Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), an autism subtype — which in children can affect everything from cleaning teeth to attending school — has led to Australia's first-ever PDA conference, to be held in Perth in November.