How to Support a Demand-Avoidant Child in Speech Therapy: Understanding PDA and Demand Avoidance
A practical, neurodiversity-affirming webinar for speech pathologists who want to understand demand avoidance and PDA, and walk away with strategies they can use in their very next session. Watch it in your own time, at your own pace, starting the moment you purchase.
- Just under 2 hours
- Includes the live Q&A
- 2 months' access
- Slides, resource book & reflection sheet
- Certificate of Attendance
Presented by Di Van Der Walt
This webinar is for speech pathologists working with children who experience significant demand avoidance, including children with a PDA profile. Together we unpack what demand avoidance is, what PDA is, where the two overlap and where they genuinely differ, and what actually helps in the room, so you can keep working towards meaningful communication goals while respecting the child in front of you.
It isn't a theory-heavy session. It's built around practical strategies and real examples from the therapy room. The session was recorded live, including the Q&A with attending clinicians, and it's now available on demand. As soon as you purchase, you'll have the full recording along with the slides, resource book and reflection sheet ready to go, so you can start learning today and come back to it whenever you need to over the next two months.
- Topic
- How to Support a Demand-Avoidant Child in Speech Therapy: Understanding PDA and Demand Avoidance
- For
- Speech pathologists and relevant allied health professionals
- Format
- On-demand recording of the live webinar, just under 2 hours including the live Q&A
- Access
- Immediate, straight after purchase
- Recording
- Available for two months from purchase
- Downloads
- Session slides, resource book and reflection sheet, all available immediately
- Certificate
- Certificate of Attendance for your professional development records
- Investment
- $150
What if the child in front of you is telling you something important?
You've sat across from a child who can clearly do the task, who did it easily last week with no fuss at all, and then the moment you ask, something shifts and they shut down, push back or disappear under the table.
That's not a mystery to solve by trying harder with the same strategies. It's information. What looks like "won't" is very often "can't", or "can't right now", and once you understand what's underneath it, the way you plan and run your sessions changes completely.
Here's where it gets tricky:
- How do you reduce pressure without letting go of the therapeutic goal?
- How do you work on speech sounds with a child who shuts down the moment you ask them to copy you?
- How do you notice when an ordinary question, a choice or even your praise has become a demand for this child, in this moment?
- How do you explain what you're seeing to the parent sitting beside you, so it doesn't sound like you're making excuses for their child?
If you've been sitting with these questions, this session is for you.
This isn't about getting children to comply with therapy tasks
It's about understanding demand avoidance and PDA well enough to reduce unnecessary pressure in the therapy room, while still working towards meaningful communication goals.
The session draws on Di's own therapy room, learning from people with lived experience, and the work of Linda Murphy (declarative language), Em Hammond (Mainey) of NeuroWild (fluctuating capacity) and Dr Ross Greene ("kids do well if they can"). It stays grounded in speech pathology practice the whole way through: speech sound work, articulation screeners, turn-taking, the questions we ask, how we position ourselves in the room, and what we do when a child can no longer participate the way we'd planned.
You'll follow Leo throughout the session, a seven-year-old Lego lover who is a composite of several children, alongside real, de-identified stories from Di's clinic, so you see each strategy in action rather than in theory.
The goal isn't to lower your expectations of children. It's to give you more ways to reach those goals, ways that respect the child's autonomy, experience and capacity in that moment.
PDA and demand avoidance strategies for speech therapy
A clearer picture of demand avoidance and PDA, and practical strategies for adapting your therapy approach.
Demand avoidance versus PDA
Where they overlap, where they differ, and why the same toolkit supports both.
Strategies for your very next session
Spotting hidden demands like praise and questions, and using declarative language instead.
The room and transitions
Capacity checks, positioning, movement, and easier ways in and out of the session.
Language for parents and teachers
Reframes you can hand straight over, so it never sounds like you're making excuses.
Practical frameworks for when participation breaks down
- Four steps for holding your need and the child's at the same time
- The three layers you can adjust when a session derails
- A five-step way to flex your expectations
- Boundaries and routines as demand-lowering tools
Who is this PDA speech therapy webinar for?
This webinar is for speech pathologists working with demand-avoidant children, whether in private practice, schools, community settings or home visits.
It's for clinicians who've already sensed that rewards, consequences or simply upping the pressure aren't the answer, and who want a clear, practical way to put that understanding into action in their sessions. It's for you if you've ever thought:
"I know this child can do this. So why does asking them to do it make everything fall apart?"
If that sounds familiar, you'll recognise a lot of what we discuss.
The content is built specifically for speech pathologists, and allied health professionals, educators and support professionals who work alongside demand-avoidant children regularly will find plenty to take from it too.
Everything you need, ready the moment you purchase
There's no waiting for a date to roll around. Your access opens straight after checkout, and your downloads are yours to keep and come back to whenever a tricky session sends you looking for them.
Full webinar recording
Just under two hours of practical strategies, clinic examples and guidance you can apply in your speech therapy sessions. Watch it in one sitting or in pieces, as many times as you like over two months.
Live Q&A and real examples
The full Q&A with attending clinicians, plus Leo, a composite case followed throughout the session, and real, de-identified stories from Di's clinic.
Full PDF slide deck
The complete session slides as a practical reference to return to long after you've watched the recording.
Resource book
Including a plain-language script to help you explain PDA and demand avoidance to parents and teachers.
Reflection sheet
A guided "My Key Learnings & Reflections" sheet to capture what you're taking into your practice, and to keep with your professional development records.
Certificate of Attendance
Mark the session as complete in the course portal and your Certificate of Attendance is sent to you automatically.
$150Instant access · Recording available for 2 months
From checkout to your next session
Purchase
Complete your checkout and your access to the course portal opens straight away. No waiting, no set date.
Download
Grab the slides, resource book and reflection sheet immediately, so they're ready beside you as you watch.
Watch & complete
Watch the recording as often as you like for two months, then mark it complete to receive your certificate.
About Di Van Der Walt
Di Van Der Walt is a speech pathologist with around 17 years of experience across not-for-profits, the disability sector and private practice. She founded Perth Hills Allied Health in 2017, growing it from a couple of mornings a week of mobile therapy into a neurodiversity-affirming clinic and clinic hub in the Perth Hills, WA, where she works with children through to the end of Year 7.
Alongside her clinical work, Di runs The Therapists Haven community, offers one-to-one supervision through Supervision with Di, and provides professional development through Adult Learning Zones. She is also a finalist for Speech Pathologist of the Year 2026 through the Allied Health Awards.
But none of that is really why she created this session.
She created it because she's sat across from enough demand-avoidant children to know how easy it is to get stuck when the strategies that usually work suddenly don't, and she knows how different it feels when you stop looking at the child through a lens of "Why won't they do this?" and start asking what's making participation so difficult in that moment.
This webinar brings together the practical strategies and clinical thinking that help you make that shift, while keeping your role as a speech pathologist and your therapeutic goals firmly in view.
Frequently asked questions
When can I start watching?
Straight away. Your access opens immediately after purchase, so you can start the recording and download the slides, resource book and reflection sheet the same day.
How long do I have access to the recording?
The recording is available for two months from your purchase. Watch it in one go, in shorter sections, or revisit it as many times as you like within that window.
Do I keep the slides and resources?
Yes. The PDF slide deck, resource book and reflection sheet are available to download immediately, and they're yours to keep and return to whenever you need them.
Is the Q&A included in the recording?
Yes. The recording includes the full live Q&A, where attending clinicians brought questions about school settings, transitions into the clinic, board games and losing, explaining PDA to older primary school children, and teaching social language.
Do I need to already know about PDA to watch this session?
Not at all. We start with what PDA and demand avoidance mean and build from there.
If you've never worked with a demand-avoidant child before, you'll come away with a useful foundation for understanding what you're seeing. If you already suspect some of the children on your caseload have a demand-avoidant profile, you'll deepen your understanding and develop a more practical response.
Do I need to know whether a child has PDA or demand avoidance before using these strategies?
No, and that's one of the most freeing parts of the session. Demand avoidance and PDA differ in scope, but they share the same underlying driver, so the same toolkit of declarative language, autonomy support and capacity-aware pacing supports both. This isn't about diagnosing a child from what you observe in therapy.
What are some PDA strategies for speech therapy?
Strategies covered include checking capacity before placing a demand, recognising hidden demands like praise and questions, praising a toy or character rather than the child, using declarative language, adjusting your positioning and allowing movement, and supporting transitions in and out of the session.
The aim isn't simply to remove therapeutic expectations. It's to find ways of working towards meaningful communication goals that are more accessible to the child and less likely to escalate distress.
Will this count towards my professional development?
Yes. Once you mark the session as complete in the course portal, you'll receive a Certificate of Attendance that you can use to record the session as part of your professional development or CPD requirements, and the reflection sheet gives you a ready-made record of your key learnings to keep alongside it.
As always, it's your responsibility to determine how the session fits within the requirements of your relevant professional body or workplace.
Is this only for speech pathologists?
The content is designed specifically with speech pathologists in mind, and allied health professionals, educators and support professionals who regularly work alongside demand-avoidant children will find the principles and strategies useful too.
What ages does this apply to?
The examples are drawn from Di's paediatric caseload, from toddlers through to children in the upper years of primary school, and the Q&A includes questions about nine and ten year olds. The underlying principles of recognising hidden demands, checking capacity, supporting autonomy and using declarative language are not tied to a particular age.
- You've worked with a child whose responses didn't make sense through a traditional "behaviour" lens, and you've quietly wondered whether you were missing something.
- You want to understand what's happening underneath demand avoidance, rather than simply responding to the "behaviour" it produces.
- You're tired of feeling as though your only option is to "push through", and you want more ways to keep working towards meaningful outcomes, along with the permission to let the plan go on the days a child has no capacity for it.
- You need a way to explain demand avoidance to parents and teachers that builds understanding rather than making the child sound difficult or leaving you feeling as though you're "making excuses" for them.
- You want practical strategies you can use in your very next session, rather than simply another way of thinking about the problem.
If that's where you are, this webinar is for you.
Ready to approach demand avoidance differently?
Join Di Van Der Walt for this practical webinar on supporting demand-avoidant children in speech therapy, ready to watch the moment you purchase.
You'll come away with a clearer understanding of demand avoidance and PDA, practical strategies for reducing unnecessary pressure, and more options for continuing to work towards meaningful communication goals while respecting the child's autonomy and capacity.
$150Instant access · Recording available for 2 months