PDA Talk
PDA Talk
Support Counselling is primarily for parents, guardians and extended family. I work with individuals and couples, neurotypical and neurodivergent alike. LGBTQIA+ clients are welcome here.
What does a typical session look like?
The approach I offer is individualised and tailored to your needs and preferences. How each session is used will depend on where you are in the PDA journey, the areas you are seeking support with and your preferred learning style. I can provide structure to the sessions; we can go with the flow or mix and match as suits.
If you are new to the PDA profile, we might begin by filling gaps in your knowledge. This could include looking at the key components of a PDA approach, prioritising expectations, adjusting communication style, responding to meltdowns, sibling relationships, school accommodations and many other topics. Those further along in their PDA journey might prefer to delve into day-to-day issues as they arise or work through significant decisions.
Along the way, clients benefit from an opportunity to process their own emotions and the varying impacts of supporting a PDAer. The power of having your story witnessed and validated should not be under-estimated.
At your request, consultations can be arranged with members of your child’s support network. This may include support workers, teachers, allied health professionals or others who are working towards your child’s well-being and are open to learning about PDA. Your presence is welcome at these consults. This service is offered to existing clients only.
What does a typical consult look like?
Each consult varies according to the unique needs of your child and the support network member. It could take the form of a chat introducing PDA, alongside an opportunity for questions. In other instances, there may be discussion and brainstorming of specific difficulties through a PDA lens. Or perhaps the team working with your child, meet on a regular basis and would like to bring a PDA perspective into their ongoing dialogue.
Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.
Wayne W. Dyer
Initial consultation provides an opportunity to tell your story in a safe and non-judgemental space. I learn about your child, whilst you share what you are hoping to achieve from our sessions. We then move into regular appointments.
Clients tend to begin with 8 -10 sessions of Support Counselling. Some decide to continue indefinitely with regular, but less frequent check-ins. Support Network Consultations can be requested along the way.
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
Maya Angelou
PDA Talk is a neurodiversity affirming practice. I believe there is a natural diversity amongst human brains. This belief influences my practice in many ways.
Rather than offering a ‘one size fits all’ approach via a course or workshop, I acknowledge that each child has their own unique characteristics and strengths. I gently support adults to adjust the environment to suit their child. This contrasts with a therapeutic approach that attempts to change the child, shaping and moulding them into a ‘correct’ brain. Such modalities are ethically unsound and incredibly harmful to the child’s developing emotional and mental wellbeing.
I listen to neurodivergent voices. I continuously reflect on my practice through regular supervision. I remain open to suggestion as to how I can better meet the diverse needs of my clients. I am an autistic counsellor and identify strongly with the PDA profile. PDA Talk is listed with the Divergantz Collective Community as a Neurodivergent Affirming Provider.
NDIS funding can be utilised in accordance with plan goals for Self and Plan Managed clients. Sessions are billed under Counsellor as Parent/Guardian Counselling or Support Network Consultations.
The most appropriate NDIS Funding Category is Capacity Building – Improved Daily Living (your LAC, Support Coordinator or Plan Manager may be able to suggest alternatives).
The fee of $156 per 60 minutes is in accordance with the following NDIS Price Guide Line Items:
Early Childhood Supports (younger than 7)
Therapy Supports (7 or older)
PDA Talk is committed to inclusion, embraces diversity and condemns discrimination. I welcome all people irrespective of lifestyle choice, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
PDA Talk acknowledges the Wulgurukaba people of Gurambilbarra and Yunbenun as the Traditional Custodians of the lands where this business is based. I pay respect to their Elders past and present. I extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia. Always Was, Always Will Be.
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PDA Talk ~ Specialist Consultation and Support Counselling for Pathological Demand Avoidance
We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.
To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
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Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.
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Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs. There may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to