➜ LEADERSHIP

For those working with children with PDA, tailored learning strategies can help. First and foremost, in aschool environment, make building arelationship with the child apriority above task completion.

Learnabout thechild’s interests so youcan communicate aboutthemand with them

While reward systems areusually ineffective, spontaneous rewards canbesuccessful –for instance, “thank youfor eating your dinner, nowwehavetimetoplaya game.”

Likewise, ensure demands areindirect,such as“do you want to putyourshoesonatthe bench or in the classroom?”

Equally, deliverpraise indirectly; let children hearyou talking about them in apositiveway orenablethemto shinebypreparing sharedactivities that you know they candowell Secondly,the learning environment playsanimportant role.Creating individual learning areasorsafe spacesreducesanxieties related to environmentaldemands.

Also, remembertoget learning equipment outonly as needed, notbefore the activity t begins, and keep any timetables or schedules for staff, not pupils Initially setting up activities based around children’s motivations and interests lowers anxieties and enables that very important access to an educationalsetting.

Finally,knowingand understandingemotionalwellbeing is the third key area in which adultscan providesupport. Remember with PDA, it is anxiety that drivesthe behaviour

Byconsidering theanxiety t rather than thebehaviour,it’smore likelythatsolutions arefound Apositiveattitude anduse of positive behaviour management strategies is highlybeneficial.

ChildrenwithPDA canbe hyper-sensitive to toneofvoice and facial clues whichcan cause anxiety t , so be mindful of facial expressions. Also, depersonaliserules –for instance, state “it’s ahealth and safety t law”or“the headteacher says,” rather than saying “because Iasked youto.”

Anothergoodpiece of adviceis to pick your battles!

It can be helpful to ignore a lot of behaviour which is not destructive or dangerous to others and turn to humour as an effective means to defuse situations

Our journey in creating thesatellite sitehas revealedthe impactthat the current lack of suitable PDAprovision is having on children and their families. It hashighlighted asignificant gapin understanding amongthe keyprofessionals who areoften thefirst point of contact for families. Importantly,it has demonstrated that providing therightlearning, in theright environment,can totallytransformoutcomes for childrenand young people with PDA.

We hopeto support others to understand theconditionthrough sharing our experience.There is an increasing numberofchildren presenting with aPDA profile requiringsuitable placements, and many more who have been misdiagnosed andremain inunsuitableeducation or even out of thesystem completely

We want to encourage greater dialogue amongst stakeholders, earlierrecognition of the profile, andblueprints forsuitable learning environments; collectivelywe havea role to play in helpingtackle the nation-widebarriersand future-proofthe education of these extraordinarychildren.