Wythall Unlocked PDA Awareness Event

Do you want to join me in making a difference? I'm raising money in aid of The PDA Society and every donation will help.

As a family, we are in the process of getting a full assessment for my daughter for ASD/PDA. PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) a form of autism that sits on the spectrum and is a relatively new diagnosis in the UK. Some Local Authorities and practitioners don’t recognise it as its own unique area on the spectrum and some will say ASD with PDA traits. Dependant on your postcode depends on the approach many authorities will take.

My experience to date has been somewhat challenging. At first, I thought my daughter was showing signs of bullying and investigated this route. To try a cut what is a very long story down I have spent nearly 4 years trying to get to the bottom of what is going on. There are so many families out there struggling as we are and to put it into context and give you an insight into our world Kids with PDA often mask so it goes undetected for such a long time. My daughter will mimic and try to fit in with social norms at school but at home the strain of pretending all day can often cause extreme anxiety resulting in meltdowns. Not just any normal meltdown but quite aggressive and it puts a lot of strain her and us. I’m not going to go into too much detail but, of recent times we have decided to get a full assessment done privately as so many people do because waiting lists are so huge. Things are starting to look up and on Sat 22nd May 2021 I am holding an event called Wythall Unlocked supporting PDA.

I have arranged to put on a charity event in Wythall Park, 1200-1800hrs. This will obviously be run with covid secure measures and my aim is to achieve the following:

1. Raise awareness of PDA in the local community and raise money for the charity

2. Create a place for families to meet that are going through similar experiences and help them create a network.

3. Use this as a starting point to collect information to start lobbying local Councils and Govt to try and create a consistent approach and a UK whereby no matter what area you live in we have a common approach and recognition of PDA.

The event will have a wellbeing zone so that anyone in the local community can learn and try activities so hopefully it will teach people about being kind to themselves in order to help others.

A food and music zone so families can enjoy entertainment in the open air and start to enjoy the easing up of lockdown.

Kids zone for all those children who can't wait to spend some energy.

Stalls where local people can sell local crafts and why not even try to get into the crafting spirit with some craft activities.

Network and support zone where parents and families can come together and talk and share experiences and we hope to create a tool kit of knowledge to help people who need it. You don't have to be a PDA family, or parents of autistic kids as we hope to be inclusive of any family struggling. We hope there will be enough information for everyone.

Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me.

More information about The PDA Society: Our charities current activities include: supporting discussions around people's experiences of living with PDA; providing support to those living and working with PDA; campaigning for greater recognition of the PDA profile' providing training to different audiences; sharing good practice and supportive ideas; developing new materials and tools which can aid understanding; collaborating with medical professionals as part of the PDA Development Group; organising an annual PDA day and biennial conference