PDA Pathways

PDA North America puts on great events - and this one is free! Click the link to sign up and register 💛

PDA Day Community Event - We See You! Join us on PDA Day for a global community event by PDA North America! This event offers a day full of live sessions/discussions with various community members. This will be recorded and sent to all who register. Whether you're a PDAer, parent, caregiver, educator, or professional, you'll have the op...

I wrote a short post about something that’s been weighing on me lately.

When people see my daughter and say “she looks good” or “she seems happy” — I know it comes from a kind place. But it doesn’t reflect the full reality of what she (and we) are navigating every day.

Autism and PDA can be incredibly invisible, and masking can hide just how hard things really are.

If you’ve ever felt this as a parent—or want to better understand—this one’s for you 💛

She Looks Great..... When “She Looks Fine” Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story There’s a quiet struggle that comes with raising a child whose challenges aren’t always visible. When pe

Autism funding changes in BC are expected to go ahead—and families are paying close attention.

There’s also a lot of advocacy happening right now to try to stop or change what’s being proposed.

I’ve shared a breakdown of what’s happening and what it could mean for families.

If this affects you, it’s worth understanding what’s unfolding.

Read more:

PDA Support: Connect with Resources in Surrey, Canada Discover PDA Support, Surrey's newest resource hub. Connect with families, educators, and professionals for essential insights on Pathological Demand Avoidance today.

It wasn’t rudeness. It was survival.

A friend was hurt—and angry—when my daughter didn’t say hello.

And I understand why.

But what wasn’t visible was everything that came before that moment… the hard morning, the autistic burnout, the effort it took just to get there.

Sometimes what looks like unkindness is a child doing their absolute best to cope.

I shared more about this moment in my latest blog, because I know so many families experience these quiet misunderstandings.

Read more:

When “Just Say Hello” Isn’t Simple When “Just Say Hello” Isn’t Simple: A Moment That Broke My Heart We had one of those mornings. The kind where everything feels hard before the day has eve

Check out these crowd-sourced PDA Life Hacks from PDA North America — tons of great info and things to try!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UFJWgYPms7a6y_VcfuCHZ_PEaVVoehlZk7qAMuVva-w/edit?gid=1502102955 =1502102955

I love this reminder ❤️

Kindness is not something our children learn from lectures. It is something they experience and then mirror.

They are watching how we speak when we are frustrated, how we respond when we are tired, and how we repair when we make mistakes. They notice the tone in our voice, the patience in our posture, and the way we treat them when their behavior feels inconvenient.

They are also watching how we treat other people. They see how we speak to our partner during disagreement, how we respond to a server who gets an order wrong, and how we talk about teachers, family members, and even strangers when they are not present. From these everyday interactions, they are learning what it means to treat others with love and respect. They are forming their understanding of empathy, dignity, and how to care for people even when it would be easier not to.

Modeling kindness means holding boundaries without humiliation. It means correcting without shaming. It means choosing words that protect someone’s dignity, even when you are upset. It means showing that disagreement does not require disrespect and that strength does not require harshness.

When children consistently experience and observe this kind of steadiness, they internalize it. They learn that love can be firm, that respect can be consistent, and that kindness is a way of being, not just a reaction.

Raising kind humans begins with the way we show up in both the hardest moments and the smallest, ordinary ones. ❤️

Support for BC & Alberta families, with free webinars available!

Looking for practical support and trustworthy information about PDA?

We’ve put together resources, guides, and tools to help parents and caregivers better understand and support PDA children. Whether you’re just starting to learn about PDA or looking for strategies that actually work, you’re not alone.

Visit our website to explore the resources and find support:
www.pdapathways.ca

💙 Support, understanding, and real help for families navigating PDA.