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Current Events: PDA – U.S.A. Facebook Group Review

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This is a blog version of a video I did recently on my YouTube, linked here SUMMARY Graeme Storey severely restricts adult PDA voices in his groups, but especially in the larger groups that he claims are geared only toward families with PDA children. Graeme lays claim to multiple PDA-themed groups spanning the globe with around 5-10 thousand members despite him being neither PDA nor residents of those countries. Beware of the groups PDA Global, PDA Australia, PDA New Zealand, PDA USA, PDA Adults Global He makes exaggerated claims to his authority, referring to his personal vetting process as “accreditation”. The process for joining his groups is EXTREMELY restrictive and not PDA friendly. When confronted with criticism he blocks and deflects blame. I personally chose to reach out to Graeme after publishing my video, sharing with him my reasons for making it and how I believed he could make improvements. I was blocked and banned from his groups. It’s well
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Signs of PDA in infancy

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Quotes provided by members of the Free PDA Facebook group Pre-birth PDA Sharron Maddison: My son stretched out a lot in the womb, it was extremely painful. He broke his waters at 32 weeks and the doctors joked that he was a stroppy little monkey. He went into distress during the birth at 36 weeks, things were taking a turn for the worst. As soon as he was born he was absolutely fine. The doctor commented about his impatience and said you're going to know you've got that one! Never a truer word spoken Christine: Well ... He wouldn't come out for a start. After that he was the most placid baby I've ever met. Hit milestones, though we always wondered should he cry more?! I think I counted 12 weeks with no crying. He was like an angel! This was all during first yr I'm talking about Louise: My waters broke a few weeks early, (probably due to loose connective tissues), and I went into hospital for observations to ensure there were no infections, and every time a monitor w
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Milton’s heedlessness of his double empathy theory in critiquing PDA

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Damian Milton has become a prominent as an AA (actually autistic) autism theorist. He is celebrated by many within the autism community for his double empathy theory (more of this below), which he summarises on National Autistic Society’s website as: “Simply put, the theory of the double empathy problem suggests that when people with very different experiences of the world interact with one another, they will struggle to empathise with each other. This is likely to be exacerbated through differences in language use and comprehension.” ( Ref ) Milton, however, has gone on to attack the validity of PDA’s classification as an autism spectrum condition. He has voiced much of this criticism through Twitter, but also organised a conference whose specific goal was to discredit the validity of PDA ( ref ). He summarises the arguments given against PDA in his conference in an unpublished paper held by Kent Academic Repository: "a critique of PDA narrative and theory […] examining the PDA b
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The trend towards autistic fascism

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  I’m aware that this article will likely incite outrage in some (how very dare anyone, even if they’re autistic themselves, ever be critical of any autistic people?) and – maybe – be received as a blessed relief by others who have been burned by the angry judgement of some autistic people. These judgemental autistic people are the ones I feel the need to write about here. Before we carry on, here are a few quick definitions for reference: Ableism: according to Access Living , “is the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior. At its heart, ableism is rooted in the assumption that disabled people require ‘fixing’ and defines people by their disability.” Gaslighting: according to Medical News Today , “is a form of psychological abuse where a person or group makes someone question their sanity, perception of reality, or memories. People experiencing gaslighting often feel confused, anxious
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