To Honour or NOT To Honour (my child's request to return to school post-burnout)

In this episode of inTune Pathways - The Podcast, host Kristy Forbes delves into the challenging decisions parents face when choosing educational paths for their autistic children, particularly when the children's wishes clash with parental concerns. Kristy, a late-identified PDA autistic with ADHD, and educator with a focus on the social model of disability, explores the implications of mainstream schooling versus alternative education for teens experiencing burnout and anxiety. She discusses the concept of Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), its impact on autistic individuals, and the deep internal conflicts they face, such as the desire to fit in with peers against the reality of their needs.

Om Podcasten

As the host of a unique and impactful podcast, Kristy Forbes combines her professional experience as an educator with a special interest in Pathological Demand Avoidance with a personal touch. She brings an authentic voice to the dialogue on neurodivergence, drawing from her own experiences as an autistic adult, a parent to neurodivergent children, and a professional in the field. KF's mission (and dreaming) invites families and carers to imagine transcending conventional approaches in supporting their children and loved ones; invites professionals to dismantle traditional power imbalances & social hierarchies rooted in privilege and to disengage from power imbalances and engage in meaningful, community-level presence and deep listening. Most importantly, Kristy offers a reframe; an alternate perspective of what it truly means to be neurodivergent and how we both formulate and cultivate a positive sense of autistic identity and culture within a neuronormative society. Her passion stems from a commitment and drive to decolonise and dismantle the ways in which we hear one another and begin to rewrite what the textbooks say we are, as neurodivergent people and communities. With radical acceptance.