Articles #NaurodiversitySouthAfrica

Your Child Isn't "Just Being Difficult." They Might Have PDA. My daughter Olivia used to melt down the second someone sang Happy Birthday. Gift-givers got what I called The Funeral Face — zero expression, zero visible excitement — while I flapped around in the background swearing the gift was appreciated. I had no idea what PDA was. I just knew my child was different. PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) is an autism profile where the nervous system perceives everyday demands as threats. Getting dressed. Being asked a question. Sitting at a desk all day. These aren't choices — they're survival responses. When schools punished Olivia for it instead of understanding it, things got dark. Self-harming. School avoidance. Burnout. For both of us. Years of training, failing, learning, and trying again later — Olivia (they/them) now navigates the world on their own extraordinary terms. Not perfectly. But safely. And that's everything. PDA is almost invisible in South Africa. I'm on a mission to change that. If this sounds like your child, you are not alone. And you are not a bad parent. Read the full article at