Working Through The PDA Lens As An Occupational Therapist

This 2-hour prerecorded introductory professional development training is designed for any pediatric occupational therapist wanting to learn to:

1. Define Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA).

2. Identify the five characteristics of the PDA profile and explain how each characteristic influences a child's or adolescent's occupational performance and participation in daily activities across home, school, and clinical settings.

3. Describe the neurological basis of the PDA threat response — including the role of neuroception, the autonomic nervous system, and the fight/flight/freeze continuum — and apply this understanding to clinical reasoning about why traditional demand-based OT approaches may inadvertently impede occupational engagement in PDA clients.

4. Identify nine PDA-informed accommodations and explain the neurological rationale for each as it relates to reducing threat response and supporting PDA clients' access to the thinking brain and occupational participation.

5. Describe concrete strategies for applying PDA-informed accommodations within an occupational therapy session that support a PDA child's or adolescent's engagement in meaningful occupation.

Instructors:

Casey Ehrlich, PhD

Faith Taylor, OTRL

This class includes 2 contact hours. Certificates of completion are provided after the learner:

1. Completes the prerecorded training,

2. Passes the course learning assessment with a score of 80% or higher, and

3. Completes the post-course evaluation

Closed captions are available for all prerecorded and live videos and we are happy to provide transcripts upon request. Upon enrollment participants have immediate access to the prerecorded training.

Please submit all questions and accessibility requests by email to [email protected].