![]() ![]() “With my PDA kids, they will avoid things they want to do, if I put their favourite food in front of them they’ll have a meltdown because it ‘wasn’t what they asked for’ or they ‘can’t eat it right now’ or I ‘used the wrong colour bowl’. This is discussed in more detail further down the page. Please note that many of the quoted people identify with the proposed condition Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), of which demand avoidance is the central characteristic. The following real-life examples are from people’s lived experience and give a good illustration of the meaning and impact this characteristic can have. These states are usually out of the person's control.Įxamples of demand avoidance from lived experienceīecause everyone experiences demand avoidance sometimes, it can be difficult to understand what is meant by a marked and persistent resistance to demands. The overwhelming anxiety of realising that a demand cannot be avoided, or that these forms of resistance have been exhausted, may result in meltdown or panic, potentially including aggression. Aggression may be a form of resistance, but it may also be a panic response to overwhelming anxiety.) ![]() ![]() ![]() For example, pushing someone or throwing something away hitting or kicking biting. aggression (usually as a last resort, when other forms of resistance have failed.passivity/withdrawal (becoming floppy curling up into a ball not responding walking/running away withdrawing into fantasy).point blank refusal (saying "No" and not entering into negotiation physically resisting).distraction or diversion (such as giving affection or compliments changing the subject making noise that makes further discussion difficult or creating a situation that needs more immediate attention, for example, by knocking something over).giving excuses (which may be fanciful – for example, 'I can't because I am a tractor and tractors don't have hands' or 'I can't because my legs are broken' (though they aren't)).an indirect or implied demand (including any expectation, such as a question that requires an answer, food in front of you that you are expected to eat, or a bill arriving that needs to be paid).an internal demand (for example willing yourself to do something, or bodily needs such as hunger or needing the toilet).a direct demand (an instruction, such as ‘brush your teeth’, ‘put your coat on’ or ‘complete your tax return’).On this page we aim to present a range of views and the best available information gathered from lived experience, research and professional practice (you can read more about how these pages are developed on our Advice and guidance content process page).īelow are some examples of the ‘demands of everyday life’ that a person experiencing demand avoidance may resist (note that the demand does not need to be something unpleasant to trigger distress): However, here we use demand avoidance to mean the characteristic of a persistent and marked resistance to 'the demands of everyday life’, which may include essential demands such as eating and sleeping as well as expected demands such as going to school or work.Īlthough demand avoidance is widely acknowledged as a characteristic experienced by and observed in some autistic people (and potentially other neurodivergent, but not autistic, people), there is very little research into it and the research that does exist is generally of a low quality.īecause of this, many aspects of demand avoidance – including how it is best defined and identified how common it is why it happens and support strategies for someone experiencing it – are under-researched and often contested. Everyone experiences ‘demand avoidance’ (resistance to doing something that is requested or expected of you) sometimes. ![]()
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