Hi, I'm Sandra McConnell, and I'm the PDA Mama Bear.  I'm an instructor by day, and speaker, blogger, and coach by night.  I have two graduate certificates in Learning Differences & Neurodiversity in Executive Functioning and Autism (Landmark, 2021); Master of Arts in Forensic Psychophysiology (Argosy, 2006); and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology/Criminology (UNM, 2000).   I have experience in organizational leadership, corporate communications, mediation & conflict resolution, negotiation & elicitation, photography, and even crime scene investigation.  I live in Maryland, USA, with my husband who's ADHD, my 12-year-old son who's PDA, my 10-year-old son who's ADHD, and my 5-year-old daughter who's TBD. 

As for me, I'm officially autistic PDA and - plot twist! - a previous diagnosis of "Secret" Schizoid Personality (pre-1980/DSM-III version).  Don't worry, it's not schizophrenia, it's actually adjacent to autism.  I resonate with both, honestly, and the schizoid lens and literature has been a huge help in cultivating and protecting my relationship with my PDA son.  Schizoid is over 70 years older than PDA, and it examines what behavioral approaches ignore: the development of the "self." All people develop a sense of self, but PDA and Schizoid are both differently-social, and both perceive demands as an INTRUSION or LOSS of their self, not a motivation, so the more you try to "pin them down" the more they resist (sound familiar?).  While PDA and Schizoids have similar crises, they are not the same, because they "solve" it in different ways: PDA avoids, controls, and explodes, whereas Schizoids detach, fantasize, and fake.  In either case, their tactics are servants, not masters, to their true need, SAFETY. If you seek me out for coaching, we'll borrow from Attachment, Trauma, Schizoid, and PDA approaches alike, to identify hidden threats to their safety, and how to forge relationships with our children that are supportive, unobtrusive, warm, and wise.