Submitted by Tatum Davis on Saturday 17th January 2026
Published on Friday 20th February 2026
Current status: Open
Open until: Thursday 20th August 2026
Current Signatures: 13,839
(count is updated approximately hourly)
Introduce national support standards for autistic children with PDA
We urge the Government to recognise the growing cohort of autistic children with a Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) profile who are unable to attend school safely.
We believe that in demand-heavy, compliance-led settings, they may face escalating crisis, including increased risk of self-harm and suicidal ideation.
In our view PDA is inconsistently supported across education, health and local authorities, resulting in many children experiencing preventable crisis. For some children, proximity to mainstream environments triggers crisis; without timely access to low-arousal or alternative learning pathways, risk increases. We ask the Government to strengthen partnerships through improved awareness of PDA-related needs, supported by training and accountability, so children are not required to fail first.
If you want to sign this petition (as opposed to merely discuss it), you need to do that on the government's e-Petitions website.
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