2025 Celebrating the Challenges

Are you working with a student who has an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, but your traditional strategies are not working? Do you find your student is not only reluctant to “comply” with academic demands but also activities you know they enjoy? These challenging behaviours may not be defiance, but instead a result of anxiety or a need for autonomy. In this session, we will be discussing a relatively new profile called Pathological Demand Avoidance, how it might present in an Autistic individual, and some different strategies that you can add to your toolkit and start using the very next day!