The PDA Effect: An Autistic Teenager’s Guide to Understanding Demand Avoidance

by Ethan Knight

Genres: Parenting

113 pages, Paperback

Published May 14, 2025

Reviews

[Anita Bagdi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ethan, this book is such a useful insight, thank you for writing this honest guide. I struggled to find first hand resources about PDA, and was happy to come across your book, it is a very informative and practical one. I am also a parent of an autistic child with PDA profile and you gave me some good ideas on how to navigate things better in our days.
I highly recommend this book to anyone that would like to read an authentic experience about living with PDA.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done Ethan! Thank you for writing this. As a mom of a tween with PDA I am always seeking for new ways to help, understand and support my son.

This a very quick read and I liked how the author would first share his perspective on each topic and how it affected him and then there would be a "how you can help" section which often would share an example of how to alter language to be less anxiety inducing.

And a nice section on where to find other resources at the end. I think this would be a great book to share with other family members to help show a PDA experience.

[Sandie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for writing this book and providing the other side of PDA. I thought that the ODD diagnosis for my son was incorrect. He was diagnosed with Autism 1 a few months ago, and I discovered PDA. I feel some hope that we can work together to make him feel better. I could see signs of depression and anxiety but didn't know how to help him. Thanks to your view, suggestions for alternatives, and resources at the back we have a path that I feel will be successful.

[Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I suspect my son has PDA and reading this book provided the information I needed and answers to questions I needed to ask.

Thank you Ethan! Beautifully written.

[Sam Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

interesting