What is PDA?
The term PDA stands for Pathological Demand Avoidance, also known as Persistent Drive for Autonomy and Extreme Demand Avoidance.
PDA is widely understood to be a profile found most often within a minority of Autistic people. The most notable characteristic is an extreme avoidance of anything the person perceives as 'demand'. This includes things the person wants to do and enjoys doing.
PDA or Demand avoidance?
PDA is more than demand avoidance, and demand avoidance is not always PDA, even when experienced by neurodivergent people. To make things more complicated, PDAers often experience demand avoidance.
This distinction is important, as the approaches we use and the support we provide must be tailored to each person's unique needs. Demand avoidance can be an expression of a person's preferences, or it can arise from other unmet needs.
Mistaking a person's rational avoidance of tasks, expectations or situations for PDA risks missing the root cause of distress and is a lost opportunity to remove the barriers that stop people from doing the things they want, need, or are expected to do in their everyday lives.
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