Free PDA

A disturbing stance is emerging within the PDA community that undiagnosed adult PDAer voices are invalid. I am writing this blog post, with passion, to counter this negativity, which I see as discriminatorily ableist and destructive. What is PDA? PDA, which stands for pathological demand avoidance, is a neurotype that is classed as an autism spectrum condition because it entails social communication differences & rigid thinking. In addition to this, PDA also involves strong control-need; anxiety; intolerance of uncertainty; tendency towards fantasy & role-play; disregard for hierarchy & rules; obsessive interests often focused on people; ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ emotions, and impulsiveness. My personal journey I first learned of PDA in 2015, eighteen months after gaining an adult autism diagnosis. At this time, Googling “PDA” returned results about difficult children, and nothing at all about adults. I resorted to searching Facebook and found just one group dedicated t

I have recently listened to “The Guilty Feminist” after a recommendation from my young teenage niece and her mother. Their wonderful enthusiasm sparked off an inquisitive interest in me that I simply had to pursue. I call myself a “feminist” but I have never said it out loud to too many people as I feel a bit of a cheat. But, it just so happens that this is exactly what the Guilty feminist is all about. I listened to the audiobook with excitement; at how the Guilty Feminist spoke for me and for many of my friends. Yes, I too rage at the inequalities that are faced by women and girls all over the world and right at our doorstep, in the workplace and in the media.   I can bet many of you reading this will relate to the Guilty Feminist. Yes, I do like my hair to look nice on the occasional day that I give a crap. Yes I do like to wear a bit of make-up – still totally rubbish at it so won’t go as far as to say I like to doll myself up. That, however is due to having an inner “can’