Our introductory post regarding Pathological Demand Avoidance can be found here. As a behavioral profile of autism, PDA is exceptionally challenging to navigate in a neurodiverse relationship. By its nature, marriage intrinsically necessitates collaboration – which requires reasonable agreeability on the part of both spouses. If a PDA partner chronically pursues autonomy at the expenseContinue reading “Part 2: The Antithetical Nature of “Partnership” with a PDA Spouse”
Tag Archives: PDA
Is it an autistic shut down, or an ASD shut out?
What are the differences between an autistic shutdown, autistic burnout and a common (but less defined, and rarely discussed) dynamic in neurodiverse marriage – the autistic shut out? What is an autistic shutdown? An autistic shutdown in is a short-term reaction to overwhelm. Perhaps the autistic individual has masked for an extended period of time,Continue reading “Is it an autistic shut down, or an ASD shut out?”
The Adversarial Dynamic of a neurodiverse marriage
When the neurodiverse marriage has spiraled into severe disenchantment, the ASD husband begins to view his neurotypical wife in an adversarial manner. The autistic partner is naturally self-focused, and his mind-blindness does not enable him to easily put context toward many of her expectations. He starts to regard his wife as an encumbrance to peaceContinue reading “The Adversarial Dynamic of a neurodiverse marriage”