Welcome to VERCIDA website.
Skip to main contentThe autism spectrum is wide and varied – and along it lie several diagnoses few people would have heard of - one of these is PDA.
PDA, or Pathological Demand Avoidance; recently recognised as an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), people with this condition tend to instinctively respond negatively to any demands, which can be expressed in aggression, anxiety, or other forms. But it would be a mistake to focus only on the negatives of this condition – people diagnosed with it have often built up coping strategies growing up to mitigate against its negative effects. And the condition itself also brings workplace advantages.
Aside from the general skills autistic people tend to bring to the workplace – high internal motivation and attention to detail, taking fewer sick days off, greater punctuality, viewing the world differently which adds diversity to decision-making and, if they’ve chosen to identify and overcome their weaknesses following a diagnosis, self-awareness and resilience – people with PDA differ from others with autism in ways. This means they can bring more skills to the workplace too:
These skills can be turned towards positive outcomes and utilised effectively in the workplace. An ability to learn how to speak to people to get them to do what you want is a vital part of collaboration, and many are very good at instinctively knowing what a person wants and how to deal with them. Moreover, given their childhood desire to avoid demands, many will have learnt more social niceties than others with autism earlier, and know the best way to politely decline requests or to keep options open without immediately committing – skills of great benefit when you need to manage a heavy workload while not closing off future avenues of work. They also tend to be better at superficial interaction and networking.
Even if issues like this (e.g. trying to “dictate” too forcefully to their team, or ignoring the directions of those senior to them) are observable, they are not too dissimilar to the common millennial/Generation Y attitude of wanting to always be in control and can be dealt with similarly. But the positives of this character trait – a natural confidence and reliability when seeing projects through to completion while identifying and neutralising all possible risks – are guaranteed to bring great success, both for the individual and the company.
So, while it’s only natural for employers to feel hesitation when they see someone disclosing as having autism or PDA on an application form, it would be disadvantageous to only view these applicants by what they can’t do – or more accurately, what they might find it more difficult to do. People with PDA can also bring these skills, whether innate or developed as coping strategies, to organisations, helping them thrive and grow. They need to be supported and valued by employers to do so, whether by adjustments or just openness and understanding, but it may well prove to be a very beneficial bargain for both sides.
VERCIDA works with over one hundred clients who are committed to creating an inclusive work environment. If you are an employer and interested in working with VERCIDA to promote your diversity and inclusion initiatives and attract the best candidates, please call 02037405973 or email [email protected] for more information.
We are also officially recommended by Disability Confident as a step on achieving Employer status, please click here for more information.
Thank you for registering on VERCIDA - the leading job site for companies that are passionate about diversity and inclusion.
Please proceed to the next step. If you are unable to complete the next stage of application please use the contact form HERE.