Neurobrilliance Series: Inside the PDA Experience
About
Inside the PDA Experience: Navigating Anxiety, Autonomy, and Everyday LifeNeurobrilliance Workshop Series
Date: Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Time: 6:00pm–8:00pm (AEST)
Format: Live Online Workshop
Facilitators: Clinical Psychologist Rebecca Alexander
Designed For: Parents and Carers
Cost: $99
About This Workshop
PDA (Pathological/Persistent/Pervasive Demand Avoidance) can be incredibly confusing for families, especially when traditional parenting strategies seem to make things worse, not better. This workshop offers a clear, compassionate, neuro-affirming understanding of PDA within the autistic experience.
We focus on what underpins PDA behaviours: a highly sensitive nervous system, a deep need for autonomy, and the impact of anxiety and perceived loss of control.
Parents and carers will walk away with a new lens for understanding their child, along with practical approaches that truly support connection, safety, and everyday life.
What You’ll Learn
🌟 What PDA Really Is: Beyond Myths and Mislabels
Learn how PDA fits within a neuro-affirming autism framework, and why it’s better understood through the lenses of nervous system safety, autonomy, and anxiety, not defiance or oppositionality.
🌟 The Nervous System, Threat Response, and Autonomy Needs
Understand what happens in the brain and body during demand avoidance, shutdowns, overwhelm, or explosive moments. Explore how anxiety, perceived control, and threat cues shape behaviour.
🌟 Rethinking “Demands”: Why Everyday Requests Can Feel Unsafe
From brushing teeth to getting in the car, discover why even simple requests can trigger panic or resistance. Learn how low-pressure, collaborative, and indirect approaches reduce distress and increase engagement.
🌟 PDA Communication, Relationship Dynamics, and Co-Regulation
Explore common communication and relational patterns in PDA, and learn how trust-building, predictability, and co-regulation can transform daily interactions.
🌟 Practical, Respectful Approaches for Home, School, and Daily Life
Take home realistic strategies tailored for families, including: low-demand environments, collaborative decision-making, flexible routines, scaffolding autonomy, and supporting self-advocacy.
Who This Workshop Is For
Parents, Carers, Guardians
Foster or kinship caregivers
Anyone supporting a child or teen with PDA traits
Why Attend?
You’ll gain a compassionate understanding of your child’s needs, along with practical, respectful tools that help reduce daily stress, strengthen relationships, and create environments where PDA children feel safe, confident, and understood.
Date
Wednesday 13 May 2026 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (UTC+11)Location
Online event access details will be provided by the event organiser
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Neurobrilliance Series: Inside the PDA Experience
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