The PDA Nurture Programme
The PDA Nurture Programme is a five-week programme aimed at parents/carers and professionals, to help provide insight into what living with Pathological Demand Avoidance is like. There has been a huge rise in mental health conditions in Autistic people and this programme helps provide those working in schools and other organisations the ability to learn skills and confidence within this field. The Programme provides attendees with a better understanding and the ability to provide children with PDA more opportunities within an educational setting.
What is 'PDA'?
PDA stands for pathological demand avoidance, which is largely accepted as a behaviour profile within the autism spectrum. This means that individuals who meet the criteria for PDA will also meet the criteria for autism. PDA is best described as an anxiety-driven need to remain in control at all times.
An Autistic child with a PDA profile is likely to avoid the demands of everyday life from tooth brushing, dressing, sitting at the dinner table, eating and sleeping, getting shoes on, walking to the car etc.
Because the children with PDA are Autistic they will also have differences in social interactions and communication. This profile is widely mistaken for bad behaviour, oppositional defiant disorder and challenging behaviours. Whilst the child may display behaviours which one may think of as naughty, it is important to remember that these are driven by high levels of anxiety.
Our Programme
This programme is designed for parents, carers and professionals all working with Autistic children with complex presentations who are often misunderstood and prone to meltdowns. If you are working or living with a child who exhibits behaviours and difficulties which resemble those described above, this programme will help you gain a greater understanding of the child’s strengths and challenges.
Our aim is to help you create a more harmonious flow within the setting or the family home and to improve the quality of life and mental wellbeing of everyone involved. At the end of the programme, you will likely experience an overwhelming sense of relief and clarity. You will be more informed about the inner world of the individual with whom you work or live.
Harry Thompson an adult with PDA & Jodie Isitt the Autistic parent of a PDA child has developed this programme to educate as many people as possible on this complex and little understood part of autism





How it is delivered
This FIVE-week programme will run intermittently throughout the year and run for 5 consecutive weeks. The sessions will be recorded and sent to participants which will be available for extra viewing for 7 days.
| Each session is 1hr 30 mins long approx.
Week 1 – We Want The Same Thing!
Week 2 – What Does It Mean To Learn VS Teach?
Week 3 – Why Relationships Matter!
Week 4 – Week Four – The PDA Flow.
Week 5 – What Does It Mean To Succeed?
What's included?
The attendees are taken through the real-life experience of a PDA adult who shares his journey to helps them find ways in which they can change their teaching outlook for the better. Working alongside Harry Thompson, this has been developed with the need of PDA understanding in schools and other organisations at its heart.
