Is the PDA Autism profile helpful, or does it further pathologize Autistics? — I mean, the word pathological is right in the name… Pathological vs. Rational Demand Avoidance PDA stands for Pathological Demand Avoidance, RDA stands for Rational Demand Avoidance, and an alternative for the PDA acronym is Pervasive Drive for Autonomy. I’ll explain what each means and why some approaches may be more beneficial and accurate than…

Many “Highly Sensitive People” are actually heavily masked Autistics — Differences are not deficits I can’t believe we’re having this discussion again. At the beginning of this year, I wrote a piece entitled The “Highly Sensitive Person” is Code for Autistic, after reading a popular psychology article which claimed to differentiate the two, but essentially described all the ways in which they are the…

Challenging stereotypes and describing some lesser-known Autistic traits — A lot of non-conforming and marginalized people are misdiagnosed in healthcare, (including mental health) and psychological diagnoses. This includes female-presenting people (including cis-women), transgender folks-basically anyone in the LGBTQIA2+ community — people of colour, people impacted by poverty, and many others. Identifying someone as Autistic can be difficult, especially if…

PBIS is just ABA with different letters — PBIS P.B.I.S. stands for Positive Behaviour Interventions and Supports, and was the foundation for Manitoba Education’s 2011 policy document, Towards Inclusion: Supporting Positive Behaviour in Manitoba Classrooms. That’s not a typo, the document intended as a guide for creating inclusive schools and classrooms has its roots in behaviourism. The year isn’t…

The word “aggressive” describes behavior, not a person’s character — The word “aggressive” describes someone’s behavior, it is not a personality or character trait. Aggression is not inherent in Autistic people (nor inevitable — in anyone). Aggression is not a natural part of “being Autistic”. Aggressive behaviors are the result of: Stress Trauma Anxiety Panic Anger Fear Frustration Lagging skills

Accommodating students in school is part of the job — This isn’t a knock on teachers Our education system is a massive mess. Teachers have too many students in their classroom and not enough training and resources to properly support them. Effectively supporting all students is well and truly a team job that is left mostly to the teacher with little help. Whether teachers are given…

How summer holidays can be a double-edged sword — Somebody’s bound to lose their cool (and it’ll probably be me) Summer holidays are coming! Later nights, longer days, hot weather, less routine, less structure, less predictability… but hopefully more fun! Our kids are probably eagerly awaiting summer holidays, but they (we all) may also end up experiencing a lot of overstimulation, as well as not…

Over-diagnosed and overmedicated, or under-identified and under-supported? — Unethical journalism practices further perpetuate misinformation That is a more accurate headline for a recent article published by investigative journalist Rory Carson, as part of a BBC program called Panorama. A recent episode focused on private ADHD clinics in the U.K., but very similar concerns have been raised here in Canada as well. Similar to the…

Public education needs a complete cultural shift, not purchased programs — School programs are like junk food Those prepared, pre-packaged, policies and programs-in-a-box* that school divisions purchase are akin to pre-packaged, processed foods. They’re okay to fill in the gaps once in a while, but they really shouldn’t be our primary source of subsistence. This also applies to parenting programs*, such as Triple P and Nobody’s Perfect…