Jul 2, 2026 · 32 min · 12 segments
In this episode we’re chatting to Jennifer Chilton, neurodiverse informed coach and parent of a PDAer, about the ups and downs of daily life in a PDA family - and how when we adapt our approach and…
Jennifer ChiltonGuestRachelHostSarahHosthaving me.
No problem at all.
So let's just sort of roll back a few years, I think, to start off with.
And, you know, before you understood PDA differently, what was family life like day to day for you?
And even now, when I look back, I just find it so incredibly emotional we were surviving functioning um existing i was running away from the situation i didn't know how to handle it i'd always been very or seen myself as a very capable person you know kind of managing life relatively well i guess and then it felt like that kind of turned on its head in an instant and I just didn't know what was happening and probably felt quite frightened actually, but then didn't know how to manage that.
And I couldn't see beyond that moment, I think is a nice way to describe it because it was so difficult.
I felt like I was in the trenches and you're just dealing with that that absolute moment in time so you can't see beyond
yeah
yeah definitely and I think as you say it is it's that when you parent a PDA child you're so involved with what's happening for them here and now isn't it it's trying to see the bigger picture and actually why the all these behaviors are happening is really hard because you're too busy firefighting in that moment aren't you
And you I found that I didn't have the bandwidth to, you know, even try and figure stuff out.
So you get to the end of the day and I probably got a window of time just to kind of really spell it out.
I'd
sometimes be woken up with the dysregulation, which was particularly uncomfortable way to wake up.
Right.
having me.
No problem at all.
So let's just sort of roll back a few years, I think, to start off with.
And, you know, before you understood PDA differently, what was family life like day to day for you?
And even now, when I look back, I just find it so incredibly emotional we were surviving functioning um existing i was running away from the situation i didn't know how to handle it i'd always been very or seen myself as a very capable person you know kind of managing life relatively well i guess and then it felt like that kind of turned on its head in an instant and I just didn't know what was happening and probably felt quite frightened actually, but then didn't know how to manage that.
And I couldn't see beyond that moment, I think is a nice way to describe it because it was so difficult.
I felt like I was in the trenches and you're just dealing with that that absolute moment in time so you can't see beyond
yeah
yeah definitely and I think as you say it is it's that when you parent a PDA child you're so involved with what's happening for them here and now isn't it it's trying to see the bigger picture and actually why the all these behaviors are happening is really hard because you're too busy firefighting in that moment aren't you
And you I found that I didn't have the bandwidth to, you know, even try and figure stuff out.
So you get to the end of the day and I probably got a window of time just to kind of really spell it out.
I'd
sometimes be woken up with the dysregulation, which was particularly uncomfortable way to wake up.
Right.
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