Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi my nearly 8 year old daughter has diagnosis of Autism spectrum disorder, learning disabilities, sensory problems and sleep disturbances along with severe anxiety. For the past year we have noticed her behaviour has changed. It has become increasingly violent and her moods switch at the drop of a hat. She can become very violent (she has been known to hit myself, my husband and her brother) I was questioning whether she was entering puberty early. I was doing some research online as we have her annual EHCP review and I came across PDA. I honestly could of wrote it personally about my daughter. Even things I never thought anything of can be a sign. For instance when she doesn’t want to do something she has been know to throw herself on the floor and say her legs are broken and she can’t get up. Other things like I have been fighting with speech and language about her as she appears to have good levels of it but I keep telling them she hasn’t got a clue what it means. She appears well behaved at school but at home she can get very angry over nothing. One second she is fine, the next she is breaking things, hurting people and all kinds. She also doesn’t see myself and my husband (her father) as authority figures. She shouts that she is the boss and it’s her house etc. She is also very domineering over her younger brother. He has to do what she says. She also shouts over people if she doesn’t like what she is hearing. We tried taking things away from her if she is naughty but it doesn’t effect her at all. So I’m looking into PDA. The only thing that doesn’t really fit is she has none to very little imagantive play. She is and has been obsessed with spongebob square pants since she was 6 months old. Anyone on here have an info on it? Any advice would be welcome. Is it possible to have a diagnosis of Autism and PDA or does one cancel the other out? It’s all very new to me
thanks in advance
Hi Twostepsbehind21, I’m autistic with pathological demand avoidance. This wasn’t mentioned in my diagnosis but I knew I had this before I even considered autism. It’s still relatively new, as a diagnosis, so not all clinicians will know about it or be able to diagnose it. I was just thinking this morning that I might contact a woman who I know (who my friend knows) has a diagnosis of it (autism with pathological demand avoidance profile) to ask her for some tips on how to live with it as this seems to be a very big part of my struggles. I’ve only realised in the last few months, how much of a part it does play in my life. So yeah, it co-occurs with autism or it is all part and parcel of autism. I know that they want to separate out all the separate conditions relating to autism, but I just think they’re all part of the spectrum and some are stronger than others. PDA fits me more than anything especially with the violent mood swings.
Hi BlueRay. Thank you for your reply. I have tried doing some research online about it but I must admit it got very confusing. I assume PDA would be a comorbid condition with Autism. She definitely has Autsim there is no question of that I just wanted to know if it adds to that diagnosis. That’s if I can get her paediatrician to listen as, as you have said it seems to be fairly new thing to be recognised and not everyone sees it or understands it. We are in the process of asking our daughter to be moved to a special school so if she does have PDA then she will need even more specialist help so I’m trying to find out as much information as possible