Good evening everyone!
It's now been a fair few months since I was last on here, and for a good reason too... I have had the pleasure of working at Aurora Poppyfield School from the end of January to keep me busy, which I can say is very similar to Grafham Grange. Only with a fewer behavioural challenges. Unfortunately, my time there has now come to an end after Easter break due to permanent staff being hired in each class.
During my time at Poppyfield, I got to expand my knowledge of SEMH and how it differently affects different pupils in each class. Much like in every previous SEMH school settings I have worked in after Grafham. Also during my time working at Poppyfield, I got to gain more skills in working with students who happen to have something called Pathological Demand Avoidance, or PDA for short.
There was this one boy in year 7, who I was working closely with a majority of my time at the school, who had a complex level of needs. All of which include, ASD, ADHD, SEMH, Trauma, SPD, and of course... PDA. Obviously, I will not be naming this person for identification protection reasons, but I can share with you what I have learned about PDA just from spending time with this pupil, and turning it into another insightful post.
So, many of you reading this now will no doubt be thinking:
"What on earth is PDA all about? I've never heard of it before." I'd say, try working with a pupil with PDA, then you'll find out for yourself.
To answer that question, PDA is where a person will avoid doing tasks and/or following instructions given by another person. Particularly from teachers. Although, it is important to keep in mind that people with PDA are not trying to be difficult in any way at all when it comes to not doing what they are told to do. This is because many kids living with PDA, are often overpowered anxiety, and in order to for them to feel safe & secure, they need to be in control of everything they are doing.
To phrase the above explanation shorter, kids with PDA are constantly living in "survival mode".
As a good example, I'll use the pupil at Poppyfield I was working a lot with. He would almost NEVER go into the classroom to do any work, as his mind is constantly in survival mode whilst at school. And given the amount of needs this pupil has to cope with all at once, the very small demand of doing a simple worksheet will plunge him into overwhelm overdrive.
As a result, this pupil will do things to his own agenda just to feel secure, and in control to help him survive the school day without feeling threatened by anything that triggers his PDA. Even if this includes playing games with him all day. With that said, it's vitally important to be able to build trust with PDA pupils before you can even think about getting them to do what YOU want them to do.
God forbid, I know I have certainly struggled with this, and will probably still do to this day if I get to work with any PDA pupils again in the nearby future.
I hope everyone has found this little piece of PDA expertise helpful. Bye for now!
*I began this post on the 13/4, but didn't finish it until the 14/4*
