Before I knew about PDA...

Before I knew about PDA...

 

I really found hard to support my son.

I didn't understand the challenging behaviour he was exhibiting was his way of expressing himself.

 

I wasn’t meeting his needs.

 

Like many parents I felt it was really tough at the time. It was all about me and how I had  been given a really tough card.

 

Now I’m much more aware that during these moments it’s much tougher on my son, I just don’t know how to support him at that time.

 

I remember early on my PDA journey reading a parent referring to their child as a gift 🎁.  At the time I was struggling to see my son as a gift. However now I am so grateful to him and all the gifts he's given me. Showing me how important it is as parents we look outside of the box and top trying to push and fit a square peg into a round hole.

 

Instead he's opened  my eyes to a new way of parenting. Learning to  collaborate with him, rather than the parenting style of hierarchy.

 

I really get so upset when I hear people using words like you know my child is 'afflicted' or 'suffers with'.  I believe it upsets a lot of the Neuro Diverse community as well. I understand, as I worked in a very old institution where  Dr Downs discovered Down's Syndrome. I remember with such deep sadness how rude strangers would be to the clients.

 

If you're new on this path and unsure about the language to use. I encourage you to sit and think about how you would like the words used to describe You.

 

Those who have been travelling this path for a while please have compassion that this person has just started on this journey 💗