Extreme pathological avoidance behaviour in children with autism

Abstract

Requests for pathological demand avoidance (PDA) diagnoses have increased over recent years. However, PDA remains controversial. It was first coined by Elisabeth Newson who hypothesised that PDA differed from autism in specific areas. This case report presents two boys from different families whose parents have suggested PDA as the core problem. But both boys were diagnosed with autism and when reviewing their history, it became clear that they had been subjected to great stress for years as they had not been supported sufficiently at school. PDA may be the resulting behaviour of this.