45-minute 1:1 session
Understanding your child's PDA
4.6 · 24 parent reviewsCould PDA explain the daily standoffs? Understand what is driving your child's demand avoidance and find calmer, more collaborative ways forward, with no diagnosis needed.
- Send a few lines about what you are seeing, plus anything else that feels useful. Your specialist reads it before you meet.
- Explore the PDA profile, what drives the avoidance and why rewards, consequences and sticker charts can make things worse. Together, agree low-demand strategies shaped around your child.
- Receive a written summary of what you discussed and the strategies you agreed. Share it with your partner, family or school.
How this session works
Tell us what is happening
Take five minutes to describe what you are seeing and send over anything useful. Your specialist reads it before the call.
Meet your specialist online
Have a 45-minute video call within the week. Evening and weekend appointments are available.
Get your written plan
Afterwards, receive a clear summary of what you discussed and the strategies you agreed to try.
Is this for me?
You face refusals over dressing, leaving home, homework or other everyday asks.
You want to understand the anxiety behind your child's need for control.
You have tried sticker charts, praise or consequences, but they increase distress.
You need approaches that reduce pressure without giving up every boundary.
Your child holds things together at school, then falls apart at home.
You want clear language and practical ideas to share with school.
After general behaviour and routines help? Behaviour & routines at home fits better.
“The bit that landed was 'reduce the demands that don't matter so you've got capacity for the ones that do.' We pick our battles now and everyone's calmer, me included.”
Not sure this is the one?
Other sessions parents look at
Compare a few that often come up alongside this one, or browse the full range to find the right fit.
No waiting lists, specialists on-demand
HCPC verified4.9Dr Helen Marsh
Educational Psychologist
Helps families understand assessments and build a clear plan, without the jargon.
RCSLT verified5.0Mei Chen
Speech & Language Therapist
Gentle, play-based sessions that build confidence and communication at home.
HCPC verified4.8Sophie Bennett
Occupational Therapist
Practical sensory and motor strategies that fit into real, busy family routines.
Parents who've been here. What they said afterwards.
Based on 24 verified reviews
Showing all 24 reviews
Cynical dad here, thought 'pathological demand avoidance' sounded made up. It isn't, and within ten minutes she'd described my daughter to a tee. Came away with a proper approach instead of just despair.
Really useful introduction to PDA and what helps, and the summary was clear. I'd have liked a few more ready-made phrases to use in the heat of the moment, but she pointed me to where to find them.
Plain talking, no jargon, and she clearly lives and breathes this. By the end I understood the anxiety driving the avoidance and how to lower it. Best money I've spent since the diagnosis.
Lovely specialist and the low-demand approach has helped. It took our whole family a while to get on the same page with it, mind; the grandparents found 'just offer choices' hard to accept at first.
I'd been fighting my son over every tiny thing. Learning to declare rather than demand, and to build in his autonomy, has given us our relationship back. Wish I'd found this two years ago.
She validated that PDA is real even though our area barely acknowledges it. Just being believed was huge, and then the strategies actually worked on top of that.
Ready when you are
Matched to a vetted UK specialist, usually within 24 hours.
No subscription · switch specialist anytime
Not ready to book?
Vetted before they ever meet your child
Enhanced DBS, qualifications verified against the awarding body, identity confirmed in person.
Common questions
Is PDA an official diagnosis?
PDA is widely understood as a profile of autism rather than a standalone diagnosis, and not every clinician uses the term. You don't need a formal PDA diagnosis to book. If the profile fits your child, the strategies still help.
Will you tell me to be stricter?
No, quite the opposite. PDA is one of the few profiles where firmer boundaries and reward charts usually make things worse. We focus on lowering demands, offering choice and reducing anxiety: the approaches families consistently find work.
Book your session
One 1:1 video call with a vetted UK specialist, and a written summary after.
No subscription · switch specialist anytime
Not ready to book?