PO Box 411, Frederick, MD 21705
Hi, I'm the PDA Mama Bear.
My name is Sandra McConnell.
I serve the community as a blogger, speaker, and trainer on Autistic Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA). My venues include the blog, answering emails, offering webinars, and workshops/conferences.
My education includes two recent graduate certificates in Learning Differences & Neurodiversity specializing in Executive Functioning and Autism (Landmark College, 2021); certification in PDA through the UK-based, OCN-accredited organization, Neurodivergent Education Support and Training (NEST, 2020); a master's degree in Forensic Psychophysiology (Argosy University, 2006); and a bachelor's degree in Psychology and Criminology (UNM, 2000).
My experience and training includes being an instructor in topics related to Equal Employment Opportunity & Diversity (EEOD, current); corporate communications; mediation and conflict resolution; interview and negotiation; various positions of organizational leadership; and even crime scene investigation.
And I am also an experienced mother of three children, the oldest of whom is both gifted and PDA, now aged 10 and doing well in mainstream 5th grade. I live with my husband and children in Maryland, USA. I identify as neurodivergent and positively PDA. And I offer a unique perspective of psychology, sociology, and PDA that rejects the old, rigid paradigms based on force and obedience, and instead I advocate for strength, warmth, wisdom, safety, and communication.