Healing Hooves

06/02/2026

Join us this Saturday June 6th. Building your self-esteem is the foundation of all personal growth. You have to believe you are worth the work.

05/23/2026

No riding, just horses teaching you how to believe and elevate yourself.

05/21/2026

Don't miss out-limited spots available

05/18/2026

Time to relax with our horses.

05/18/2026

Let us help you find your self belief

05/18/2026

Happening in less than 2 weeks!!

05/14/2026

An event for our youth

05/08/2026

Tomorrow night-when it's cooler outside.

05/08/2026

Sharing another perspective.

I'd like to take another stab at sharing my thoughts on how demands and autonomy are not at the center of the PDA experience.

I've talked a lot about there being underlying needs beneath PDA behaviors.

I've explained why I don't believe demands are the root trigger when those behaviors show up.

I've similarly explained why I don't believe a lack of autonomy is the root trigger...

But what I haven't explained yet is what I believe the root trigger *is* if not demands or a lack of autonomy.

I created this graphic to show when and why I believe PDA behaviors show up.

To summarize... they are not all rooted in the same thing.

There are 5 different pathways that lead to the PDA behaviors we see.

Demands do show up as a trigger... but they only represent one type of trigger in one specific pathway.

The 5 pathways (which you can see in my graphic) are...

1. Is the person who’s requiring that the task be done safe?

If the person is not safe (or is perceived as not safe) there will likely be resistance.

2. Is the task being communicated in a way that overrides personal judgment?

This is where demands show up.

If the task is being given as a demand... this overrides personal judgment.

And for many autistic people, personal judgment is crucial because if we can't apply our own logic to determine if a task is safe... we often end up in unsafe situations. Mainly because most environments are not set up to meet our needs.

This pathway can show up in other ways too (not just with demands). Other examples are... manipulation, requests, and suggestions.

3. Is the task fully understood?

This is where missing information comes in... particularly missing details and/or missing context.

(This is related to bottom up and whole to part processing... which I call "Dual Cognition.")

4. Does the task conflict with needs?

(This can be perceived needs, as in, what the autistic person perceives as being a need, which may not be known to those around them.)

This is where sensory needs show up. If the task is in conflict with a person's sensory needs, there will likely be resistance.

This is also where anticipatory anxiety shows up. If a person anticipates a future conflict, they will likely avoid/resist the task.

And last, but not least...

5. Does the autistic individual have the skills necessary to complete the task?

This is where executive dysfunction shows up. If there is an executive functioning skill gap, this often leads to task avoidance.

Ok, that's where I'll stop for now... though there's quite a bit more to this framework that I'll continue talking about in future posts.

If you have PDA and this resonates, I'd love to know.

And for those of you who've been struggling to understand PDA, I hope you found this post clarifying.

Let me know if you'd be interested in a post discussing the PDA Support Model I've been building. That's the next layer to all of this. 🙏🏻

P.s. There is currently no universal definition of PDA. My reframe is based on the original definition published in Elizabeth Newson's journal article in 2003 where she coined the term "pathological demand avoidance." (Link in comments).

02/15/2026

A four part event focusing on YOU!!