PDA Parents & Carers Course
PDA Parents & Carers Course
Practical, neurodiversity-affirming support for understanding and supporting a child with a PDA profile.
If everyday demands lead to anxiety, shutdowns, meltdowns, school difficulties, masking, or family overwhelm, this course will help you understand what is happening beneath the behaviour and how to respond with more confidence.
Created by Natalie at SENDinMama, a PDA adult, PDA parent, PDA specialist, and experienced SEND educator with over 15 years working with neurodivergent children.
Is this course for you?
This course may help if:
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Your child seems “fine” at school but collapses at home.
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Everyday requests quickly become overwhelming.
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Traditional parenting advice makes things worse.
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You are navigating school anxiety, refusal, masking, burnout or dysregulation.
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You suspect PDA traits in your child, yourself, or both.
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You want practical support that is compassionate, realistic and affordable.
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You want to know how to best support them in education, as well as at home.
What You'll Learn:
This course goes beyond surface-level advice to help you understand what is happening beneath PDA behaviours and how to support your child in ways that feel safer, more compassionate, and more sustainable for family life.
Throughout the course you will explore:
• What PDA is, how it presents, and how it differs from other profiles
• The different types of demands and why even everyday expectations can trigger anxiety and avoidance
• What happens neurologically during demand avoidance and overwhelm
• Internalising and externalising presentations of PDA
• Equalising behaviours, masking, burnout, shutdowns, and restraint collapse
• The overlap between PDA, OCD, ODD, anxiety, and other commonly misunderstood presentations
• How PDA impacts family life, emotional wellbeing, learning, and relationships
• Polyvagal Theory, neuroception, regulation, and creating felt safety
• Practical low-demand approaches for home life, communication, routines, meals, and transitions
• How to reduce escalation and support your child before, during, and after meltdowns
• Real-life lived experience examples from parenting PDA children
• Why many PDA children struggle in traditional education environments
• Alternative approaches including home education, flexi-schooling, and flexible learning
• Strewing, collaborative learning, and reducing pressure around education
• Practical tools for supporting emotional regulation, autonomy, and connection
• Why many traditional behaviour systems fail PDA children and what can help instead
Tap the PDF button to see the full outline!
How is this course unique?
This course is written and built by someone who is:
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A PDA autistic adult themselves
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A parent of four children with SEND, two of which with differing PDA presentations
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An educator of 15 years specialising in SEND, Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs, and trauma
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Experienced in multi-agency working as well as working with countless families all over the world on a 1:1 basis
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Has a Masters in Education, so can speak with confidence on the current research and understanding on how children learn and how best to support them
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A Home Educator of all four children so understands the practicalities of using strategies in real life
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Also battling the SEND system and is going through tribunal processes to secure EHCP's and support for her own children
New to PDA? Read our FAQ on what PDA is and how to spot it.
William Groves - School Leader
The course was visually engaging, paced brilliantly, and packed with practical advice that I could implement straight away in my role as a teacher. Natalie presents complex ideas in a clear and accessible way, making it easy to deepen your understanding whether you’re in education or a parent seeking extra support.
What really stood out was how well-designed the course was – everything from the content to the delivery made it easy to follow and incredibly impactful. It has genuinely changed the way I support children with PDA in my daily work.
This course is a must for schools, parents, and anyone looking to build a deeper, more practical understanding of PDA. I’m really looking forward to seeing what Natalie offers next – she’s a gifted educator with a real talent for making important information accessible and actionable.
Lindsay Salmon - PDA Parent
"I’m thinking that I would very much like to share it with my parents and my mother in law because I think it would help them to understand - hearing it from somebody else, and so yeah, it’s fab!”
Emma While - Parent
“I actually love you. I am somebody who actively avoids podcasts being more than 15 minutes. I usually can’t watch the training I sign up for because when am I ever at my desk for 49 million hours to do so. Even though I have watched a load back to back I LOVE that your videos are all teeny tiny. I mean, it’s as if you understand neurodiversity or something!”