RAG rating
n/a
Document type
Clinical policy
Place
Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB
Output type
Clinical Policies & Evidence-based Interventions
Document
Download

Pathological Demand Avoidance

July 2022 v1.0

Assessment for Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) is not routinely funded.

Rationale

  • PDA is not a recognised condition on ICD-10 or DSM-5 and neither of our providers, Virgin Care who deliver the Child Development Centre (CDC) or Northeast London Foundation Trust who deliver Emotional Well-Being & Mental Health service (EWMHs), recognise this as a condition or provide assessments, recommendations or specialist treatment.
  • There is no validated tool for identifying cases.
  • It has been a concept within autism since 1980s and yet there is no consensus, it remains controversial.
  • There is no clinical consensus of whether PDA is a behaviour profile within the autism spectrum or aligned to an attachment disorder.

References

https://www.autism.org.uk/about/what-is/pda.aspx 

Article linked from the Lorna Wing website discussing the diagnosis of the condition.

O’Nions, E., Gould, J., Christie, P. et al. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry (2016) 25: 407. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-015-0740-2

http://www.aettraininghubs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/5.2-strategies-for-teaching-pupils-with-PDA.pdf 



Back