The PDA Teacher

I’ve been driving around on empty for 3 days. I’ve been rushing around, as usual, and forgetting to refuel. It’s a miracle I haven’t broken down. And if that’s not a metaphor for my life right now, I don’t know what is.

And yes, my car is FILTHY right now. It is on my ever-extending list of things I desperately need to do. Anyone who comments about this will have their bloodline cursed for a thousand years 🤣

I have now fuelled my car, but I also have to make sure I refuel myself.

I’m sure you can all relate.

I take back every bad word I ever said about those in charge of school timetabling. This 💩 is HARD. And I only have to manage 3 members of staff 🥴 😅

I take back every bad word I ever said about people in charge of school timetabling. This 💩 is HARD. And I only have to manage 3 members of staff 🥴 😅

☀️🤗 PDA Devon Fun Day! 🤗 ☀️

What to expect -
🦇 Batman & his Batmobile
👸🏼 Meet the Princesses
🐹 Animal cuddles
👑 Make your own Flower Crowns
🏰 Bouncy Castle
🧁 Sweets & Cakes
🧸 Toys for sale
🏆 Games

💰£2.50 entry for all - cash or card accepted

🌟 We are looking for a few more wonderful volunteers to run stalls for 30 minute slots and any bakers out there - we need your cakes!

🐼 All proceeds go towards spreading awareness of Pathological Demand Avoidance and to support local families.

The Government has now responded to our petition, and there is something really important that we cannot ignore.

For the first time, the response specifically references support for “autistic children and young people with a Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) profile” within the proposed National Inclusion Standards.

This petition was never about creating a separate diagnosis. It was about recognition, understanding, and ensuring that children and young people with a PDA profile receive appropriate support based on their needs.

The response states:

“National Inclusion Standards will set out the evidence-informed tools, strategies and approaches for educators… to identify and support children and young people with additional needs, including autistic children and young people who may have a Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) profile.”

It also says:

“Access to support should not be dependent on a child or young person having a diagnosis.”

These are positive statements. But now comes the crucial question:

What will this actually mean in practice?

If PDA is to be included within National Inclusion Standards, then PDA-informed approaches must be properly recognised, understood and reflected in the evidence base that informs those standards.

Families, PDAers, educators and professionals know that traditional behaviour-based approaches often fail children with a PDA profile. We need the evidence, research and lived experience around PDA-informed practice to be taken seriously as these standards are developed.

The Government has committed up to £15 million to strengthen the evidence base and says an independent expert panel will help design these standards.

This means our work is not finished. In many ways, it is just beginning.

We now need to ensure that:

• PDA profiles remain visible throughout this process

• PDA-informed approaches are included in future research

• Lived experience is listened to alongside professional expertise

• Schools receive meaningful guidance, training and support

• Recognition leads to real-world change for children and families

• Support should be based on need, not on where a child is educated.

Please continue sharing the petition and the Government response. Every signature helps demonstrate that this community expects more than words - we want meaningful inclusion, evidence-informed practice, and support that genuinely meets the needs of our PDA children.

Recognition is a step forward. Now let’s make sure the standards reflect what PDA families, educators and advocates have been saying for years.

Petition link:
🔗 https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/757502

The conversation has started. Let’s keep it going.

Sorry (not sorry), still not done with Quality First Teaching because it’s disingenuous to teachers to suggest it’s an intervention on an EHCP.

(A post I wrote a year ago)

Quality First Teaching: The Unicorn of Interventions

Ah, Quality First Teaching. That magical, mysterious approach that’s apparently an intervention when a child is going through the EHCP process, but somehow just… vibes quietly in the background for everyone else.

In the words of Number 2, ‘Let’s be real,’ QFT is supposed to be the baseline. The bread and butter. The stuff every child gets because it’s, you know, good teaching. But suddenly, the minute a pupil like Tarquin gets an EHCP, teachers everywhere remember what QFT is. Differentiation? Scaffolding? Visual supports? Wow. Revolutionary. If only someone had thought to use these with Cedric, who’s been sitting in the corner chewing his hoodie since September.

But no. Cedric doesn’t yet have an EHCP, so obviously he must be fine. He doesn’t need visuals. Or chunked instructions. Or pre-teaching. That’s only for officially needy children. Until the paperwork comes through, Cedric can continue to receive… whatever the opposite of Quality First Teaching is. Quality Last Teaching? Maybe ‘Teaching First Thing Monday When No One’s Awake and With No Planning?’

And lo, should Cedric ever be blessed by the SEN gods and handed his golden EHCP scroll, a miracle will occur: the clouds will part, a highlighter will be uncapped, and the teacher’s eyes will suddenly open.

‘Oh,’ they’ll say, ‘Cedric needs support?! Why didn’t anyone say so?’

(Narrator: Everyone had.)

For those playing along at home, here are the actual legal criteria for a needs assessment under Section 36 of the Children and Families Act 2014. A local authority must carry out an EHC needs assessment if:

1. The child may have special educational needs; and

2. The child may need special educational provision to be made via an EHC plan.

That’s it.

No ‘must be three years behind in literacy.’

No ‘must have done six rounds of interventions and stood on one leg for a term.’

Just ‘may have’ and ‘may need.’

Of course, we don’t blame the teachers. We blame the system that pretends QFT is some rare intervention only to be unleashed when Ofsted comes or a SENDCo appears wielding a provision map.

We blame the paperwork that requires a child to fail hard enough before anyone takes action. And we definitely blame whatever strange logic decided that teaching all children well is somehow additional.

So here’s to Cedric. And Tarquin. And every child in every classroom who deserves the basics before the EHCP.

Let’s stop pretending QFT is an ‘intervention’ and start making it the norm.

And to the EHCP panels everywhere: please don’t list ‘Quality First Teaching’ as the primary provision. That’s like saying, ‘We’ll give him food… but only if he’s starving.’

Emma
The Autistic SENCo
♾️

Photo: writing on the table