10 Misconceptions About Eating And Pathological Demand Avoidance Part 2 l Ep. 159

About this episode

In this episode, Casey discusses 10 misconceptions about eating related to pathological demand avoidance and shares insights on how to better support children with PDA.

In this episode — Part 2 of our series on eating and PDA — I walk through the 10 misconceptions about eating that I personally had to unlearn in order to help my son. These are beliefs that are completely reasonable for most children and even most neurodivergent children, but do not apply to pathologically demand avoidant kids and teens. I cover why "kids will eat when they're hungry" isn't empirically true for PDAers, why behavioral approaches (even gentle ones) can backfire, why restricting sugar may not be the strategy you think it is, and why looking at eating in isolation misses the bigger picture of cumulative nervous system stress. I also share what the research does and doesn't tell us, where the methodology gaps are when it comes to neurodivergence, and what has actually changed in our home over the years. If the approaches you've been trying aren't working — or are making things worse — this episode is for you. Key Takeaways PDA Kids Won't Just "Eat When Hungry" | 00:05:52 I explain how PDA is defined by a survival drive for autonomy and equality that consistently overrides other survival instincts — including hunger. Even when a child is physiologically hungry, the…

People in this episode

Host: Casey

Topics covered

• eating misconceptions
• pathological demand avoidance
• neurodivergence
• behavioral approaches
• nervous system stress

Keywords

• PDA
• eating
• misconceptions
• behavioral methods
• nervous system
• neurodivergent
• hunger
• autonomy

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