PDA-Informed Practice for Education Professionals

PDA-Informed Practice for Education Professionals

10-Hour CPD Accredited Online Course

6 months’ access from the date of purchase, or unlimited access with an active paid professional subscription.

This training is included in our annual subscription package for professionals, which also gives you access to our complete training library of webinars, self-paced courses and podcasts. With a professional subscription, you’ll have unlimited access to this training for as long as your subscription remains active.

Build confidence. Reduce anxiety. Create learning environments where PDA learners can thrive.

Supporting PDA learners can be both rewarding and challenging. Traditional educational approaches can unintentionally increase anxiety and demand avoidance.

This 10-hour CPD Accredited online course has been developed specifically for education professionals who want to deepen their understanding of Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) and develop practical, flexible approaches that improve engagement, reduce anxiety and build positive relationships.

Created by the PDA Society, this interactive, self-paced programme combines current understanding of PDA with practical strategies that can be applied immediately across educational settings. Through engaging content, reflective activities and knowledge checks, you’ll develop the confidence to create emotionally safer learning environments where PDA learners feel understood, respected and supported.

Why choose this course?

PDA is a widely recognised profile of autism, yet many education professionals report feeling underprepared to meet the needs of PDA learners within schools and other educational settings.

This course has been designed to bridge that gap.

Rather than focusing on behaviour management, the programme explores the reasons behind demand avoidance and provides practical, relationship-based approaches that reduce anxiety, support autonomy and encourage meaningful engagement in learning.

Whether you are supporting an individual PDA learner, leading inclusive practice across your setting or looking to strengthen your own professional knowledge, this course provides practical tools and strategies that can make a real difference.

What you’ll learn

Throughout seven interactive modules, you will develop a deeper understanding of:

• What PDA is and how it may present in educational settings.
• The relationship between anxiety, autonomy and demand avoidance.
• How demands are experienced from a PDA learner’s perspective.
• Why distressed behaviours occur and how they communicate unmet needs.
• Practical strategies that reduce perceived demands and increase engagement.
• Relationship-based approaches that build trust, collaboration and emotional safety.
• Flexible adaptations that support PDA learners while balancing the needs of the wider learning environment.

The PANDA Framework

At the heart of this programme is the PANDA Framework — a practical approach that supports education professionals to create low-pressure, emotionally safe learning environments for PDA learners.

You’ll explore:

• Prioritise and compromise
• Anxiety management
• Negotiation and collaboration
• Disguise and manage demands
• Adaptation

Together, these principles provide a flexible framework for reducing anxiety, increasing engagement and supporting positive relationships across a range of educational settings.

Course Modules

The course consists of seven self-paced modules:

• Understanding PDA in Education
• Understanding Demand Avoidance in Education
• Prioritising and Compromising in Education
• Anxiety Management in Education
• Negotiation and Collaboration in Education
• Disguising and Managing Demands in Education
• Adaptation in Education

Each module includes interactive learning activities, reflective exercises and end-of-module quizzes designed to reinforce learning and encourage practical application.

Flexible Online Learning

Designed to fit around busy professional lives, this course allows you to study at your own pace, wherever and whenever it suits you.

Your course includes:

• 10 hours of CPD Accredited learning
• Fully online, self-paced study
• Interactive activities throughout
• Reflective learning opportunities
• End-of-module quizzes (80% pass mark)
• Downloadable CPD certificate upon successful completion

Who is this course for?

This programme is suitable for anyone working with or supporting PDA learners, including:

• Teachers
• Teaching Assistants
• SENCOs
• School Leaders
• Inclusion Leads
• Alternative Provision Staff
• Specialist Education Professionals
• Education support staff
• Home educators and tutors

Whether you are new to PDA or looking to develop your existing knowledge, this course provides practical, evidence-informed guidance that can be implemented immediately within your educational practice.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Recognise how PDA presents in your setting.
• Respond to distressed behaviour by addressing the need behind it, not just the behaviour.
• Apply practical, lower-pressure approaches that rebuild engagement.
• Use the PANDA framework confidently in day-to-day situations.

Make a Lasting Difference

Understanding PDA has the power to transform educational experiences — not only for PDA learners, but for the professionals who support them every day.

By developing a deeper understanding of demand avoidance and learning practical, compassionate approaches, you’ll be better equipped to replace conflict with collaboration, foster trusting relationships and create environments where PDA learners feel safe, understood and able to thrive.

Join a growing community of education professionals developing their PDA-informed practice and gain the confidence to make a meaningful difference in the lives of PDA learners.