PDA is part of who you are but not all!
You are not defined by your PDA. Although young people with PDA have similarities, PDA does not define someone because it is different for each person.
Each person with PDA is unique.
We have written this book to help you to find your description of PDA: what PDA means for you.
Important facts about YOU
It would be great to know some facts about you that have nothing to do with your PDA. You may want to start by writing down what you most enjoy doing.
• My hobbies are / I really like to:
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You may want to write the names of the most important people in your life.
• My favourite people are:
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You may have a pet that is very dear to you.
• My pet is a:
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and my pet’s name is:
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Do you have a favourite toy or game that you
prefer to the rest of your other toys or games?
• My favourite toy/game is:
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How do you like to relax?
• I chill out by:
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Let’s explore what you are good at.
• I’m good at:
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• You may want to ask your parents what makes them proud to be your parent and write it here:
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If you want to, you can write or draw any
facts about yourself here. You can also add
any that we have not included in this book.
You can change this at any time.
You may want to do a drawing of your hobbies, your favourite toy or a drawing of yourself doing something you are good at in the box below. You may want to write down any interesting things about yourself too.
You, the teacher
Fancy using your wonderful imagination? How about doing a little acting or role-playing?
A teacher is someone who explains things. Could you
become a teacher from now on? In your role as
a teacher, you are faced with a very important
question: what does PDA mean for
YOU? We are all eager to learn the
answer from you!
To help you to answer the question, we
have written down the difficulties that children
and young people with PDA have shared with us.
We have also gathered some of the strategies that have
helped them to cope better with their difficulties.
It is very important to clarify before you start that not all of the difficulties and strategies mentioned here will be applicable to you. As there are no two people with PDA who are the same, you may want to tick the difficulties and strategies that apply to you and add those that we have missed.
Also, some of the things you identify with today may well change in time as you grow and learn new ways to cope. The things you struggle with today may even change (become more or less troublesome) depending on the way you feel or what is going on around you. Therefore, it may be a good idea to use pencil so you can change things you’ve written and erase things that are no longer difficult for you.
So, are you up for doing a little acting as our teacher? I bet you can teach us all what you are finding out about your PDA as you go through the book. In your role as our teacher you can tell us which of the struggles people with PDA may have apply to you, and which ways of dealing with their difficulties work for you.
We would like you to remember that:
You are the best teacher about YOU.
You are the expert about YOU.
Your parents, teachers and everyone who cares for you and is part of your life are really looking forward to learning from YOU about YOU.
You may want to do a drawing of yourself here dressed up as a teacher. In your picture, you may be teaching a lot of people, or just the most important people in your life. Would you prefer to be sitting down or standing up, walking around while explaining or writing it all down? If you prefer to dress yourself up as one, you
could ask your mother, father or a teacher to take a
picture of you in your very own teacher costume
and stick it up here, or you may
prefer to take a selfie.
So, teacher, are you ready to
prepare a whole lesson about
your PDA? Shall we get our
pencils out and start reading
and ticking boxes? Or maybe you prefer someone else to read it out loud and tick the boxes for you? Your choice!
Challenges You
May Struggle With
Demands, demands and more demands!
We have learned from the children and young people
with PDA we have met that they struggle a lot to cooperate
with demands.
We have learned from them how incredibly anxious being asked to do things can sometimes make them feel.
You may find it very hard to do
what others want you to do