For the longest time we were told our 5 year old son was suffering with severe anxiety. Turns out he fits the PDA profile which is a nervous system disability and a neurotype of its own within autism. Treating it as just anxiety never helped, but anxiety is absolutely part of it when a sensitive nervous system is set to be more reactive, requiring more control and autonomy in order to feel safe. How can we recognise PDA? What is the difference between anxiety and PDA? What is it like for the parent of a PDA child to navigate that? I'm joined by the wonderful Dr Casey Ehrlichs of @AtPeaceParents, a resource without which I would be totally lost on my parenting journey, who helps us better understand PDA, how it's characterised and precisely what a PDA nervous system needs.

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