The Teacher's Introduction to Pathological Demand Avoidance: Essential Strategies For The Classroom

This essential guide for working with PDA pupils outlines effective and practical ways that teachers and school staff can support these pupils, by endorsing a child-led approach to learning and assessment.

Beginning with an introduction to PDA and how it can affect the education experience, it is then followed by thoughtful, useful strategies school staff can implement to build a collaborative relationship with pupils and help them to thrive in the school environment. The activities presented aim to make children more comfortable and at ease, and therefore better able to learn. It covers key issues for children with PDA, such as sensory issues, preferred language and phrasing of demands, social skills, and recognising distressed behaviour. The chapter summaries and simple activities listed throughout make this a useful tool for busy teaching staff working with PDA pupils.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface

1. PDA - What Do We Know So Far?;
2. Prioritising Demands
3. Presenting Demands
4. Designing and Implementing a Child-Led Curriculum
5. Invitations to Learn
6. Teaching Social Skills
7. Adapting Traditional Autism Strategies
8. Managing Distressed Behaviour
9. Hidden Forms of Distressed Behaviour
10. Managing the Needs of the PDA Student in a Class of Thirty
11. Eating, Drinking, Washing
12. Paperwork
13. What I Learned From Spectrum Space

Afterword

Further Support and Further Reading

"Clare's book is a wonderful contribution to the literature on PDA for education professionals, a really practical and useful book. This will refill teachers' tool boxes and provide a true compass to guide their teaching, helping this fascinating bunch of pupils achieve their educational potential."
- Dr Glòria Durà-Vilà, NHS and Private Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, author of Me and My PDA: A Guide to Pathological Demand Avoidance for Young People, My Autism Book and The Amazing Autistic Brain

"What a clear, positive and creative book! Clare provides a great balance of understanding theory as well as practice with an honest approach to some of the everyday issues facing education practitioners. It offers practical ideas to support engagement and to maximise learning opportunities."
- Ruth Fidler, Education Consultant (supporting complex presentations of autism and wellbeing), Autism Associates