A roadmap for our family.
Before inTune with PDA, we were lost and exhausted, constantly battling with our child’s needs. This program gave us a clear, compassionate roadmap that has completely changed our day-to-day life. We now feel connected and hopeful for the future.
– Rachel, parent of a 6-year-old PDAer
A breath of fresh air.
I didn’t realize how much pressure I was putting on myself and my child until we started inTune with PDA. The program’s emphasis on equity and understanding has been a breath of fresh air, and it’s helped us create a calmer, happier home.
– Angela, parent of a 12-year-old PDAer
In 2020, inTune with PDA™ was launched as the first internationally accessed program, by over 3700 families worldwide, across 14 countries, specifically designed by a pioneering educator, advocate, and adult PDAer for parents of PDA children and teens. As a result of the impact our program has had on families, inTune with PDA™ has now been rebuilt, restructured and made appropriate for not only families of children with a PDA profile, but PDA individuals as well.
inTune with PDA offers a compassionate, understanding approach to Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), focusing not just on clinical aspects, but on the lived experiences of individuals and families.
It recognises the challenges and isolation that come with PDA, moving away from traditional, harmful approaches that many assume to be helpful, such as behaviour management.
We shift away from old ways, and toward fostering connection, understanding, and self-reflection.
This program advocates for a new paradigm that respects the unique needs and experiences of PDA individuals and their families, emphasising healing, acceptance, and the journey towards embracing PDA unconditionally.
Radical acceptance. Radical resistance.
Understand PDA from a trauma-informed and neuroaffirming perspective.
Learn practical strategies to support autonomy and reduce anxiety.
Develop peaceful, effective communication techniques that enhance relationships.
Foster equity-driven care practices that empower your child to thrive.
Pre-recorded Modules & Content
Each week, you’ll receive essential lessons delivered straight to your inbox, with lifetime access, so you can revisit and learn at your own pace.
Live Q&A with Kristy Forbes & Kieran Rose
You’ll have the opportunity to participate in 3 live sessions where Kristy will offer direct support and personalized answers to your questions.
Live Masterclasses
Join Kristy as she deep-dives into key topics to enhance your understanding and application of PDA strategies.
Full Library of Past Masterclasses
Explore your personal collection of previous masterclasses related to PDA, full of valuable insights.
Kristy Bot
Meet your personal robot guide to the course! Kristy Bot is available to answer questions, provide tools, and reference Kristy’s extensive content library.
Bonus Content & Resources
Look forward to weekly bonus materials, including eBooks, advocacy templates, and tools to help you create a more peaceful home and navigate the world outside.
Exclusive Members Podcast
Each week, Kristy will answer selected questions in a members-only podcast episode recorded just for you.
Lifetime Access
Move through the content at your own pace with lifetime access to all materials. You’ll never have to worry about being ‘behind.’
What is the duration of the course?
How do I sign up?
What does the program cost?
When are the live events?
Do I, or my child need to have a diagnosis?
How long will I have access for?
How accessible is the program?
If I already have inTune with PDA, do I get access to this round?
Life-changing insights!
The inTune with PDA program completely transformed how we interact with our child. The practical strategies and understanding of PDA have brought peace and connection back to our home. We now feel empowered, not overwhelmed.
– Sarah, parent of a 10-year-old PDAer
Finally, a program that understands our family
After years of feeling misunderstood and unsupported, this program gave us the tools to truly see and understand our child’s needs. The program is full of empathy and practical advice that speaks directly to what PDA families need.
– Emma, parent of a 13-year-old PDAer
The support we were missing!
This program has been an absolute game-changer for our family. We learned how to create a more balanced environment where our child feels safe and understood. The guidance is deeply compassionate and affirming, something we couldn’t find elsewhere.
– Michael, father of a 7-year-old PDA child
Transformative and empowering.
inTune with PDA didn’t just help me understand my child—it helped me understand myself as a parent. It offered a new perspective and tools to support my family in a way that feels right for us. I can’t recommend Kristy and the program enough.
– John, parent and educator
As a PDA individual myself, raising four PDA children, I intimately understand
the complex dynamics, challenges, and immense rewards that come with nurturing ourselves and young people who thrive on autonomy.
So many of our families sit on lengthy waitlists for years, finally accessing what they hope is support for what feels a completely unsustainable situation, only to be told it's their fault.
In case you haven't been told yet, you are resilient. Your child is resilient.
This word alone has been weaponised against families and children for far too long, underpinned by a resistance to the idea that our social and cultural constructs are in need of a significant shift.
Any person that continues to rise each day and face a world that feels like an assault on their livelihood, to try and try again, in the face of so many barriers is beyond resilient.
inTune with PDA™ empowers you to build a trusting, secure relationship with your child or teen, giving you the confidence to reframe your parenting approach, make aligned decisions, and advocate powerfully for your family. It’s not about changing who you are—it’s about coming back to the capable, intuitive parent you already are, with the tools and clarity to create a stable, nurturing home environment.
Our program works for all Individuals & Families, PDA or not.
We believe the principles of what we offer are nurturing and valid for all people, so whether you or your child have been formally identified autistic, ADHD, have anxiety, have been diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder or any other form of neurodivergence, because our program is human centred and respectful of all neurobiologies, being certain of whether you fit the criteria for PDA is not essential.
Learn about The nature of Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA): its definition, historical context, and differences from other neurodivergent profiles • Understanding the brain-body connection and the neurobiology of PDA • Co-occurring and chronic conditions that often accompany PDA • The role of trauma and its complex relationship with PDA (the chicken/egg conundrum) • Various expressions, profiles, and presentations of PDA • How to identify and understand emotional intensity in PDA individuals • Behavioral patterns specific to PDA, including masking and fawning, and their consequences • How to create a supportive environment tailored to a PDA child or teen • Communication strategies that foster trust and connection, including declarative communication • Practical tools for emotional support and relationship building • Strategies for managing the intersection of routine, predictability, and flexibility • How to repair relationships after conflict and maintain emotional and psychological safety • Techniques for building trust through respectful interactions • Tools for managing intense emotions and moods • Autodidactic learning approaches suited to PDA individuals • Managing educational settings in ways that respect PDA needs • Family-centred and person-centred approaches that work for families raising PDA children • How to collaborate with professionals to support your child • How to build emotional and psychological safety within the home • Understanding and supporting intense emotional experiences in PDA individuals • Guidance on continuing the journey with final thoughts and encouragement • Access to further learning resources to continue their growth and understanding • Access to worksheets, handouts, research papers, articles, books, and publications for further study • A range of interactive tools like quizzes, infographics, observation logs, and routine planners • Directories for forums, support groups, and resources • Tools for therapies, supports, and crisis management •
1. Parenting Demand Avoidant Children in Isolation for parents who are single, solo, and/or going it alone
2. Fight, Flight, Freeze and Fawn: Understanding the threat response in demand avoidant children
3. Communicating safety to the demand avoidant, anxious brain
4. Should I tell my child they’re neurodivergent?
5. Understanding and responding to meltdowns in demand avoidant, highly anxious children
6. Navigating Social Dynamics
7. Autism, Anxiety & PDA in the classroom
8. Food, Eating and Demand Avoidance in Children
9. Autism, Masking & Pathologising (In the classroom)
10. Supporting neurodivergent children to stay safe in relationships with others
11. Healing (from) the trauma we unintentionally project onto our autistic children as parents
12. How to talk to demand avoid children (in respectful and collaborative ways)
13. Autism & Sensory Processing
14. Autism & Anxiety: Helping our children to thrive
15. Reframing Screen Time via an Autistic Cultural Lens
16. Reframing Language, Communication & Connection for Anxious, Demand Avoidant Children
17. How to engage demand avoid children with learning at home (when school is not an option)
18. Longing for Home: Understanding Suicidality in Autistic Youth
19. Managing Stress & Meltdowns
20. A Closer look at Autism, Anxiety and Demand Avoidance
21. Developing an individual education plan for the demand avoidant child at school
22. PDA and Mental and Physical Wellbeing
I have always struggled with how to approach my own PDA profile, but being part of this program has been life-changing. I feel validated, understood, and most importantly, empowered to manage daily life in a way that works for me. Learning from someone who is also PDA and an educator has made all the difference. This isn’t just a program—it’s a lifeline.
– Daniel R.
As a single parent of a PDA teen, I was overwhelmed and constantly in survival mode. 'inTune with PDA™' gave me clarity and confidence I didn’t know I had. Now, I can see the changes in my child’s behavior and emotions, and we’re finally making progress. The bonus resources and masterclasses are just incredible!
– Leila M.
Kristy Forbes
BA Politics, Sociology, Literature, Film & Art | Grad Dip. Education | MA Disability & Inclusion
Grad Dip. Psychological Science | Diploma of Counselling
PDA. Autistic. ADHD
International Speaker | 26 years of parenting PDAers | 10+ years of supervision to allied health professionals & educators | Consultant | Founding Director of inTune Pathways | Founder of inTune Access Support: Family Collective | Founder of the inTune Pathways Podcast
Lover of gardens, food and music | Expert level silliness and play | Passion for supporting others | Forever young in an adult body
Drawing on her lived experience as an autistic person with ADHD and a PDA profile
as well as being a school-avoidant individual who now home educates her own neurodivergent children, Kristy offers unique insight into the challenges faced by PDA individuals and their families.
Combining her background in education, behavioural support, and family advocacy with personal experiences of trauma, burnout, addiction, homelessness, and systemic misunderstanding; she provides compassionate support through her programs, webinars, and public speaking, all aimed at empowering and understanding those with PDA and related trauma.
Her work is informed by her extensive professional experience as an educator (Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary teaching), integration aide and childhood behavioural and family support specialist.
Kristy has degrees in Political & Social Sciences, Education with a disengagement specialisation, Literature, Film and Art.
She has the unique experience and insight of many perspectives: the teacher, the support specialist, the parent, the partner and of course, being the neurodivergent individual.
Kristy understands the very real challenges neurodivergent people and their families face, and the often misunderstood and undermined position they are in.
Her own personal journey as an autistic person, and the story of her family is often documented throughout her work in her writing, her speaking, her programs and masterclasses.
Kristy left school at the age of fifteen, after a series of behavioural and conduct programs, and being placed in isolation away from peers. She has experienced addiction, family violence, homelessness and became a parent at just 18.
Kristy's work and approach to parenting and connecting is through the lifelong lens of truly seeing and valuing the individual, and the way they experience & respond to the world.
Her most impactful work is in the PDA space, having experienced incredible adversity as a result of her own experience of compromised mental and physical health as a youth, being in and out of the juvenile court system, and experiencing other outcomes of chronic and systemic misunderstanding of how and who she was.
She has a special interest in PDA related trauma and burnout and works with individuals and families in private consultation, supervision for professionals, programs, speaking and writing.
