Pathological Demand Avoidance: On The Spectrum?

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"People with pathological demand avoidance syndrome (PDA) will avoid demands made by others, due to their high anxiety levels when they feel that they are not in control. PDA is increasingly recognised as part of the autism spectrum."

Long article:
http://www.autism.org.uk/About-autism/R ... drome.aspx

Diagnostic criteria:
http://www.pdasociety.org.uk/what-is-PD ... c-criteria

I have done some reading about PDA because someone on WP suggested it. I believe it is definitely on the spectrum and it seems to fit my son to a T. He as other Asperger's traits in combination with it, so I am not sure if PDA is just one of the types of Asperger's Syndrome.

The article says that "People with PDA tend to have much better social communication and interaction skills than other people on the spectrum". Definitely not me, although I do tend to avoid demands because they cause anxiety.

I think PDA is one of those labels given when a child doesn't do things just because someone says to do them.

I can relate to some of these, such as me being able to pretend play (it wasn't advanced but sometimes I had trouble distinguishing reality and fantasy when doing so) when I was younger and having a speech delay but then not only catching up, but also having an advanced vocabulary. However, it says the catch up is due to passivity, but I remember having trouble with auditory processing and being hyperlexic at the same time, which is probably the reason that happened for me.

I don't think resisting demands obsessively has anything to do with developmental differences. I have recently developed that as a result of being convinced that the Social Thinking curriculum is okay. After the problems following me doing what Social Thinking said people should do, I have a negative association with doing what other people expect. However, I wasn't like that when I was younger.

Yes, PDA fits on the spectrum, and unfortunately, I suffer from this. It is a constant struggle to comply with the simplest requests by other people. With the exception of unavoidable appointments, I never commit myself in advance, to activities with or for others, as I can't guarantee that I will carry them out. Part of my problem is other health issues that can interfere with my being able to be available, but part of the problem is my own reluctance to comply with whatever others want me to do. It is stress based, as doing stuff with or for others causes stress. Unfortunately, not doing stuff for or with people also causes stress, so it's a no-win, no-win situation. And people are always annoyed or even angry with me for either refusing to do what they want right off the bat, or for agreeing to do something, and then not carrying it out. They tend to be madder if I say I will do something, but then don't, so I generally refuse upfront. This is a condition that annoys me--the one suffering it--as well as others around me, but I don't know of any cure for it. It's part of my autism spectrum collection of traits/conditions, so I am stuck with the situation.

I do better when people REQUEST things, rather than DEMAND things.

Is there such a thing as "Request Avoidance?"

Sounds like another version of ODD except the aggression is absent and so is is the disrespect and the anger and debilitating trying to annoy others, an other bad things about that label while with this one, all they do is avoid doing things they are told to do or expected to do. I swear labels keep being invented for certain things. There things out there about people I cannot stand and tolerate so I wonder if their behavior is a disorder and it may not have have a name yet. Look at my ex boyfriends for example or a friend my brothers had and their friend would do things my mom didn't like and they were jerkish and mean but all his friends including my brothers would brush it off and say "that is just him" and tolerated it. There are things some people do people just accept in that person and put up with because they're friends. My grandfather had a friend who could never tell the truth for example. I think it only becomes a condition if it actually affects the person like if it alienates others around them and affects their employment because so many people just cannot stand their personality vs a few or some.

I have been reading about it because I was trying to understand my son better. He has always resisted simple requests from the time he was a toddler. Requests such as "get in the bath tub", "get out of the bathtub", "put your clothes on", "time to do your homework", etc.., etc...

I have been learning new ways to talk to him in order to get him to complete day to day tasks in a way that doesn't come across as a demand in order to get him to comply. It seems to be helping.

But, is it a separate diagnosis? Hmmm, I am not sure. It just seems to fit in with a lot of his autistic traits in my opinion.