Why the usual classroom strategies backfire for demand-avoidant kids…and what actually works instead. TL;DR The gap: Refusal, shutdowns, and escape behaviour are typical autistic stress responses, but when a demand triggers them, they get read as defiance instead. Why...
Why nearly-equal custody time doesn’t mean nearly-equal impact on a PDA child’s nervous system TL;DR What’s happening: Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) is a profile within the autism spectrum where everyday demands can trigger a genuine fight, flight, or freeze...
Why fatigue, disengagement, and inconsistent output at work are often the visible edge of an invisible cost. TL;DR The reframe: When performance slips, most organizations ask “how do we fix this employee?” A more accurate question is how much of that employee’s energy...
TL;DR The scale: Sensory processing differences show up in the vast majority of autistic adults, and for many, they intensify with age rather than fading. The gap: Almost all sensory processing research and intervention was built for autistic children. Adults,...
How organizations quietly decide whether neurodivergent employees are punished or rewarded for being honest about who they are. TL;DR The gap: Neurodivergent adults make up 15-20% of the population, yet 85-90% experience unemployment or underemployment, not because of...
TL;DR One in four autistic adults, and one in three autistic women, have been given at least one psychiatric diagnosis before autism that they now consider a misdiagnosis. Personality disorders, anxiety, depression, and chronic fatigue or burnout-related conditions...
Part 2 of 3: Neurodiversity at Work TL;DR The “business case” for neurodiversity, the argument that including neurodivergent employees benefits organizational performance, is a common and sometimes useful tool, but it has serious limitations. Relying on it exclusively...
Part 1 of 3: Neurodiversity at Work TL;DR The scale: Up to 17-22% of the workforce is neurodivergent, yet unemployment and underemployment among this group remain persistently high. The gap: Neurodiversity is increasingly recognized as a dimension of workplace...
TL;DR The problem: Most therapy for autistic and neurodivergent people was designed by and for neurotypical brains, and research now shows it frequently causes harm rather than healing. The shift: Neuroaffirming therapy starts from a fundamentally different premise,...
Understanding the PDA profile in children and adults TL;DR What it is: PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) is a profile within the autism spectrum where everyday demands trigger a profound fight, flight, or freeze response in the nervous system; not a behavioural...