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Richard Woods Profile picture
Richard Woods
@Richard_Autism
@cads_lsbu PhD student A leading critical #PathologicalDemandAvoidance expert Attributed as autistic, presently with a "post-autistic identity" Views are my own
2 subscribers
Dec 4 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
"Facing Change and Uncertainty: Lessons Learned from Autistic Children and their Families During the COVID-19 Pandemic"
Open access article
link.springer.com/article/10.100… This is one is interesting talking about demands. It also seems to talk about how avoidance is relating to anxiety (stress). There is also an example of demand-avoidance in their which highlights why proposed rational-irrational demand-avoidance split is problematic.
Nov 24 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
@milton_damian Does anyone else find it weird considering the high variation in clinical practice assessing autism; that "PDA Profile of ASD" advocates felt the need to prematurely define with a research report, that purports to provide guidance & identification on PDA? Point here, is one can respect autism identifications from clinics with divergent assessment practices. Why should PDA identifications be treated any differently (if they do identify PDA)? Why should we view divergent PDA identifications as inferiors to others?
Nov 21 • 92 tweets • 17 min read
Thread on draft slides for “Ethical responsibility for negative responses to encountering critique of “Pathological” Demand-Avoidance (PDA)" video. Video should be published by end of November 2024 (I am unsure if I will wait for feedback on these slides before recording the video).
Nov 20 • 20 tweets • 4 min read
@forestvanslyke In response to those saying have meltdowns due to critiquing PDA. One could view it as unfortunate & responsibility of those prematurely reifying PDA as a distinct entity... ... PDA literature notes PDA is a controversial & contested topic. Many people have been & are critical of PDA, for many good reasons...
Nov 19 • 18 tweets • 4 min read
This is my latest image showing how social avoidance behaviours to demand can escalate. It is adapted from PDA Society's "What is PDA" booklet, p7. Image It is adapted from this image from PDA Society 2021 p7. Image
Nov 19 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
This meme was first published by Sally Cat on facebook. It is not a "joke". Its bullying by its creator.

If I edited this meme to have Sally Cat's face on it, & saying "It is all makes sene of why she was such an incompetent, arrogant, under-qualified twat"; that edited meme would be viewed as bullying.Image Sally Cat's views on me, since they created this meme, also show that this meme is an accurate reflection of their views on me; i.e., the meme is not meant to be taken as a "joke".
Nov 17 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
Title and abstract for my talk next month.

Title.
What are the predicted risks of the proposed autism subtypes of “Profound Autism” & “Pathological” Demand-Avoidance (PDA)? Abstract.
Leo Kanner suggested autism as a subtype of Childhood Schizophrenia, as part of the historical broader attempts to categorise people expressing social communication via subtypes over the last nine decades. ..
Oct 28 • 45 tweets • 8 min read
There is much to admire about someone's dedication to "PDA Profile of ASD".

Still, @milton_damian have you, or I ever intended Rational Demand Avoidance to say one's demand-avoidance is entirely rational reasons, or only "good reasons"? Image The assumption that rational demand avoidance, means a person can only experience demands due to "good reasons"/ rational reasons to be used to justify the pretense of the claimed split between RDA & PDA. Image
Oct 28 • 17 tweets • 3 min read
Rather interesting!
theguardian.com/society/2024/o… “There is a lot of idiosyncratic interpretation of autism, depending on how much each service adheres to the NHS’s diagnostic criteria and what each psychiatrist’s own interpretation of what autism is.” Prof Marios Adamou.
Oct 25 • 12 tweets • 2 min read
This is a short thread on the title & abstract for the talk!
Title.
Why is it premature to split “Rational” Demand-Avoidance from “Pathological” Demand-Avoidance?
Oct 18 • 69 tweets • 12 min read
Thread on draft slides for “Pathological” Demand-Avoidance (PDA) & Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17. video.

Video should be published weekend of 19th-20th of October 2024. Below is the title slide for this presentation. Image
Oct 7 • 20 tweets • 3 min read
I have a lot of issues with how some are attempting to define "Pathological Demand-Avoidance".

Seemingly arbitrarily claiming demand-avoidance is different in nature, because it is illogical/ irrational, from logical/ rational is one of them. What is logical/ rational vs irrational/ logical is inherently subjective and value judgements, often often specific. Often PDA literature notes this is usually defined by an external observer's perspective.
Sep 28 • 58 tweets • 10 min read
Thread on draft slides for Broader cultural context of “Pathological Demand Avoidance” (PDA) “Profile of ASD” video.

Video should be published weekend of 28th-29th of September 2024. Below is the title slide for this presentation. Image
Sep 23 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
If you want an example, of why I am so critical of PDA Society's so called guidance on PDA diagnoses, the thread by @AnnMemmott highlights flaws when research only involves people with certain outlooks.
As I explain in the document below the so called guidance by PDA Society on how to identify PDA is biased by who they included in the research & why they asked them.
rationaldemandavoidance.com/wp-content/upl…
Sep 19 • 59 tweets • 10 min read
Jonathan Green's response to Gillberg et al (2024) has also been published. Among other things, it calls for a transactional approach to PDA & transdiagnostic approach to PDA research.
thelancet.com/journals/lanch… Gillberg et al (2024b) response article seems relatively well balanced. Recognises points both Jonathan Green & I make, while arguing for their proposed PDA research agenda. Key point is importance of external observer value judgement about nature of PDA though!
Aug 28 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
What's on my mind?

Almost complete vacuum in literature on Non-speaking PDAers/ PDAers with Intellectual Disability

If possible, I should mention that in the editorial!

I am bloody good at my understanding & knowledge of PDA, e.g., Newson's likely contribution to that vacuum. Take below diagram from Newson 1996, p6. It shows Newson's Pervasive Developmenetal Coding Disorders grouping, which has PDA separate from autism, but also related to dyslexia & dysphasia. Diagram has an intelligence/ potential line, low on left (autism), high on right (PDA). Image
Jul 26 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Oh demand-avoidance welcome back into life for the infinitive time. Oh but wait, is this demand-avoidance rational, or irrational? Who gets to decide if this demand-avoidance is rational, or irrational? How should one define if this demand-avoidance is rational, or irrational? So I am avoiding reading an email response to a request for me to be able to do something potentially "cool". I am anxious because the "cool" activity is "fun" for me, but not "cool" for others. Person whose consent I need, likely would be in the "not cool" for others group...
Jul 24 • 32 tweets • 5 min read
If you want an example of WHY I am so exasperated with people aggressively pushing PDA as a "Profile of ASD", this is it!
So the study in question seems to suggest that Autistics tend to pretty peaceful & express "aggressive" behaviours mainly due to environmental/ transactional factors; i.e., not rooted in the individual.
Jul 10 • 7 tweets • 1 min read
"Autism, ADHD, Sexual Compulsivity, and Problematic Pornography Use: A Sexual Psychosocial Communication Disparity in Disability"
Not open access article
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10… Need to read article. Going by its abstract its results may supports my Monotropism model, which describes how Autistics can develop potentially problematic coping mechanisms when they are unable to develop "easier"/ "safer" coping mechanisms.
Jul 9 • 21 tweets • 4 min read
When one is constantly being attacked, people do not treat one with empathy 5 respect. It really takes a toll on oneself. Can take a lot to unpack it all. I am grateful for all the positive stuff going on. It is nice & reassuring one is not "crazy". Acting on feedback that I apparently have "undeserved status". I asked for feedback for those I work with & collaborate with. Consensus seems to be that the claim I have "undeserved status" is nonsense. Then again one could say that is a biased sample.
Jul 7 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
Literature acknowledges that ADHD often presents differently in Autistics, & it effects feature presentation etc. Its something I am trying to get acknowledged in MQ manuscript, as it explains why non-Autistics with ADHD had lower mean scores on the current MQ; i.e., current MQ items plausibly biased against non-Autistics with ADHD. @DudeAdhd @amnerisuk This possible limitation of current MQ items is something I have spoken about privately and publicly for almost 9-10 months. Should not be surprising to anyone.