Thank you for supporting PDA North America. With your support and donations, we will continue to grow and offer more support services and programming for the PDA community. PDA North America is a non-profit organization with 501(c)(3) status. All donations are tax-deductible. Our Mission is to provide advocacy, education, and resources to autistic PDA individuals, others who identify as PDA and their families along with the professionals who support them.Our Vision is bold. We want to spread awareness of PDA to parents, individuals, educators and therapists throughout the US and Canada. We want to create resources for families to have a place to turn for support and guidance, we want professionals to be able to receive training and information in order to effectively work with. PDAers, and we want PDAers to know that they are understood and supported. In short, to build a strong and vibrant community for this underserved population.

Join us for a 3-part series, for 9 hours of training broken down into 3 different trainings on the Art of PDA Communication with Keri Schouten, adult PDAer and coach to PDA parents, as she explores what true collaboration looks like in practice when supporting PDAers.Drawing on both lived experience as a PDAer and years of coaching PDA families, Keri will provide real-world examples and actionable strategies that can be applied at home, in educational settings, and in professional relationships.10/9 - PART 1: UNDERSTANDING EQUALIZING: In this engaging and practical session, Keri will explore what equalizing is, why it happens, and how it connects to the PDA nervous system's deep need for autonomy and equity. With a special focus on young children, she will share insights into proactively meeting these foundational needs to help reduce equalizing behaviors before they escalate.PART 2: MINDSET: Many traditional parenting beliefs and practices are rooted in assumptions about motivation, behavior, compliance, and authority that do not align with the lived experience of PDAers. In this session, Keri will guide participants through a PDA-friendly reframing of these common beliefs, offering a perspective that prioritizes autonomy, collaboration, nervous system safety, and connection.PART 3: APPLICATION: Collaboration is often recommended as a key PDA strategy, but what does it actually mean? And how do we move beyond simply using the word?Whether you're a parent, caregiver, educator, clinician, or PDAer yourself, you'll leave with a clearer understanding of how to turn collaboration from a well-intentioned concept into a meaningful daily practice that supports autonomy, reduces conflict, and strengthens relationships.Bring your questions for the live Q&A and discover how genuine collaboration can become one of the most powerful tools in your PDA communication toolkit.BioKeri Schouten, MA, is AuDhD-PDA, with a 25 year long passion for respectful, collaborative and playful approaches to working with young children. She is an EEC certified lead teacher who has worked with many young PDA’ers in a therapeutic school setting, and she is currently working in the Metrowest Boston area as a PDA specific parent coach/ respite provider for parents of children ages 3-9. To learn more, visit her website at https://www.pdaparentcoaching.com