Published on 12, July, 2020
I attended a zoom group this morning and came across PDA , which is a new one for me as nobody really talks about it even though it affects so many people. I am aware that you can have this form of Autism , but it is super hard to get diagnosed. I just wanted to see how it affects you , the traits etc on a deeper level. When it was being discussed I suddenly had a lightbulb moment and now i'm addiment my brother has it so wanted to dive into it further. Would be super grateful for any advice on this matter,
Kind regards Amy
PDA is a specific autistic profile - meaning that the autistic person has a persistent drive for autonomy and that the nervous system can perceive hierarchy, inequality or authority (loss of autonomy) as threats to survival. There are many other PDA experiences, here are some links to more information:
https://youtube.com/@kristyforbes?si=8VZw1mCxYy0Q-IRy
This YouTube channel is by Kristy Forbes who is an adult PDAer who specialises in supporting other PDAers and families. Really important information about the PDA nervous system on this channel.
More videos about PDA by PDAers:
https://www.youtube.com/live/ryWUrEoZgDY?si=mAng1ROmdrYdLuPm
https://www.youtube.com/live/cqf9hlpSz5E?si=-1rcYoZEbuNbiayf
You may also want to visit the Autism Understood website and search for PDA specifically.
I hope this helps.
My diagnosis report states the profile type as PDA.
It's taken a while to figure out what that really means, there's so many things that I do which are PDA driven but I wasn't aware. I used to just think it manifests as procrastination , but it's so much more than that.
Demand can come in many forms and my reaction to it can be almost allergic, like I'm startled by some things and fight or flight (or freeze) can kick in.
These range from invites to social events, people popping up with a message saying "got a min to talk?" , things I need to do at work that I don't feel bought into (I'm not great with just being told, I have to "believe" to do things)
It's all good fun!
Autisician said:Demand can come in many forms and my reaction to it can be almost allergic, like I'm startled by some things and fight or flight (or freeze) can kick in.
Yes I completely understand that, it’s a threat response.
Autisician said:It's taken a while to figure out what that really means, there's so many things that I do which are PDA driven but I wasn't aware. I used to just think it manifests as procrastination , but it's so much more than that.
I understand that as to some extent the PDA threat response can present as inertia or as procrastination as you say but obviously it’s distinct from those executive function differences and instead very primitive.
Autisician said:These range from invites to social events, people popping up with a message saying "got a min to talk?" , things I need to do at work that I don't feel bought into (I'm not great with just being told, I have to "believe" to do things)
It’s almost like the PDA threat response can give you more processing time for such tasks, albeit it’s the demand (and consequent loss of autonomy) that triggers the threat response in the first place. You mention you need to believe in order to do things, many of us autistics including myself (particularly PDAers) need to be intrinsically motivated in order to be able to do anything.
I suppose as an adult you can have more autonomy over what you do and how you live your life, so hopefully this means you can live a low demand lifestyle.