Is the PDA Autism profile helpful, or does it further pathologize Autistics? PDA vs RDA PDA stands for Pathological Demand Avoidance, whereas RDA stands for Rational Demand Avoidance. I’ll explain what each means and why one approach may be more beneficial and accurate than the other. The two key features of PDA are: This extreme avoidance extendsContinue reading “Autistic Rational Demand Avoidance”
Tag Archives: Autism Acceptance
Autism Green Flags
Signs you or someone you know might be Autistic and AuSome I’ve come across some unfortunate websites and company advertisements warning parents to spot the “red flags” of autism. Spot the signs! They say, as though they’re watching for signs of high or low blood sugar, a stroke, or some other medical emergency. Except autism isn’tContinue reading “Autism Green Flags”
Atypical Autistic Traits
Challenging stereotypes and describing some lesser-known Autistic traits A lot of non-conforming and marginalized people are misdiagnosed in healthcare, (including mental health) and psychological diagnoses. This includes female-presenting people (including cis-women), transgender folks-basically anyone in the LGBTQIA2+ community — people of colour, people impacted by poverty, immigrants, and many others. Identifying someone as Autistic can be difficult, especiallyContinue reading “Atypical Autistic Traits”
Autism Acceptance Month
Awareness campaigns are harmful; acceptance is the key As many of you know by now, April is autism “awareness” month. Autistics have been taking back our own activism and education campaigns, and one way we’re doing so is by renaming April to Autism Acceptance Month instead. Previous “awareness” campaigns have treated autism as though it wereContinue reading “Autism Acceptance Month”
My ADHD and Autism Are Not BFFs
Being both ADHD and Autistic feels like having an ongoing episode of “The Odd Couple” in my brain. Before you go looking for my age in my bio, no, I am not old enough to have seen the original “Odd Couple”. In fact, I’ve never seen any iteration of the movie or T.V. show, IContinue reading “My ADHD and Autism Are Not BFFs”