EBooks, Slides & Handouts

Executive Function (EF) are the set of mental skills that help you get things done. These skills are managed by a part of your brain called the frontal lobe. This means the more advanced area of the brain is in charge of these skills.

PDA individuals share autistic characteristics in addition to PDA characteristics that make up the PDA profile. The main characteristic of PDA is to avoid everyday demands & expectations to an extreme extent. The root of PDA is anxiety. The feeling of control helps to soothe the anxiety. The more autonomy they have the less their overall anxiety level will be. Think of it as "Pervasive Drive for Autonomy".

Self-disclosure happens on a spectrum. You can do a full self-disclosure (“I am Autistic” or “I am an ADHDer”). or a partial self-disclosure such as, “I have sensitivities to light.”

Bonus content: If you would like somewhere to note your thoughts and reflections in reading through the Welcome Pack, the Workbook is a fillable PDF that collects together the reflection prompts within the Welcome Pack for you to complete.

Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) is a sub-type of autism, described as an anxietydriven need for control. Individuals with PDA resist the everyday demands of life. Their brains are wired to perceive demands as a threat which triggers extreme anxiety.

You provide as much 1:1 as a person needs so that you can help them build the skills they need to slowly handle more and more on their own. So, I took away every demand I could and I did all the things. I was told I was coddling and I didn't care. I spent that time skill-building and slowly helping them learn to self-advocate and come with more demands.

Recognising the existing gap in post-diagnostic support for people diagnosed in adulthood, Reframing Autism has facilitated the development of a community-designed “Welcome Pack.” Our Welcome Pack has been collaboratively developed by our Intersectional Advisory Committee – a diverse group of Autistic adults, ensuring a wide range of perspectives from within the Autistic community. The Welcome Pack has been developed through a neuro-affirming lens, where Autism is seen as a difference rather than a deficit. Our Welcome Pack is a resource, designed to welcome newly diagnosed Autistic individuals to our community following the diagnostic process. This resource will also provide informative and reflective support to newly diagnosed Autistic adults in their everyday lives. The topics were selected in collaboration with and created by the co-design group and are based on initial research on the post-diagnostic support needs of newly diagnosed Autistic adults (e.g. Crowson et al., 2022; Wilson et al., 2023). Our Welcome Pack is a resource that targets the large disparity existing for Autistic individuals diagnosed in adulthood, due to the limited support available for this cohort. As part of this gap, co-design outputs like this one that capture the perspectives of adults are critical. We are delighted that this Welcome Pack will be used by Aspect clinicians to support Autistic adults following their diagnosis. In partnership with Aspect, the Welcome Pack will be evaluated to ensure it is relevant for our community into the future.