Davis Autism: Understanding ODD and PDA Through the Davis Autism Programmes

By Tania Blackmore-Squires

When children consistently resist authority, refuse demands, or seem to oppose everything, parents and professionals often turn to labels like Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA). But what if these behaviors aren’t about defiance at all?

As both a parent of a child with ODD and PDA traits and a Davis facilitator, I’ve witnessed the complexity of supporting these children firsthand. This dual perspective has given me professional insight and deeply personal understanding of the daily challenges these families face.

Parents of children with ODD and PDA often live in constant crisis mode, even when they don’t recognize it. The relentless cycle of conflict, avoidance, and defiance leaves families feeling powerless, isolated, and emotionally drained.

This chronic stress creates a psychological burden that:

Parents function in survival mode without realizing it. This profoundly impacts their ability to support their child, themselves, and their wider family. Any effective support must address both the child’s missing conceptual foundations and the parents’ fragile emotional state.

The Davis approach offers a fundamental shift in understanding. Rather than viewing defiance as deliberate misbehavior, we recognize it as a child’s attempt to regain stability and control in an unpredictable world.

This reframes ODD from “willful bad behavior” to a protective strategy for children lacking internal anchors.

From a Davis perspective, ODD and PDA behaviors stem from disorientation — when children lack secure internal anchors like sequencing, cause and effect, time, or consequence. Without these concepts, the world feels chaotic and unpredictable, producing stress, anxiety, and helplessness.

To cope, many children create an imaginary system of control. In this inner world:

This provides temporary stability.

The conflict emerges when external reality strips away that control. Adults set necessary rules and limits, but for children without strong cause/effect concepts, these boundaries feel arbitrary. Adult authority collides with the child’s internal script: “I am the one who decides.”

Defiance becomes self-preservation. Saying “no,” refusing, or arguing aren’t simply oppositional acts — they’re strategies to protect the inner world and ward off helplessness.

This often creates a destructive pattern:

From the Davis perspective, this isn’t willful misbehavior but a protective strategy for managing overwhelming uncertainty.

Children with ODD and PDA aren’t “choosing” defiance. Their behavior reflects gaps in essential life concepts. When these concepts are missing, rules feel random, consequences seem unfair, and relationships break down.

Key concepts that often play a role:

Change – Without it, transitions feel threatening; defiance protects against perceived instability

Cause/Effect/Consequence – Missing links make outcomes feel arbitrary; sanctions are experienced as injustice rather than learning

Before & After/Time – Weak sequencing makes requests like “homework first, then play” seem random; poor time sense fuels frustration

Order/Disorder – Structured environments feel arbitrary; chaotic ones overwhelming. Both provoke resistance

Fear – Without recognizing fear, defensive anger masks underlying anxiety

Responsibility/Control – Weakness makes self-regulation difficult; children feel controlled by others but unable to control themselves

Intention/Motivation – Misinterpreting motives creates mistrust; unclear motivation makes tasks meaningless

Energy – Difficulty pacing leads to swings between hyperactivity and exhaustion

Relationship/Trust/Agree/Rules/Belief – Missing these makes cooperation hard, rules feel unsafe, and agreement seems like submission

When these foundations are underdeveloped, the world becomes unpredictable and threatening.

Why it helps: Reduces anxiety around change and order
Tools: Orientation; Concept Mastery of Change, Time, Sequence and Order
Examples: Visual timetables; model “before” and “after”; practice transitions with Release and Ting to reduce stress

Why it helps: Helps children link behavior to outcomes, reducing feelings of unfairness
Tools: Concept Mastery of Cause, Effect, Consequence
Examples: Use natural demonstrations (plants growing, baking, switches) instead of punitive systems; reinforce logical links (spill water → wipe it up).

Why it helps: Supports self-regulation and reduces overload
Tools: The Davis Dial; Concept Mastery of Emotions
Examples: Teach interoception cues; practice Dial adjustments in calm moments; co-regulate with Release or sensory tools

Why it helps: Meets autonomy needs without unlimited control
Tools: Concept Mastery of Control, Want, Need
Examples: Give limited choices (“pen or pencil?” “wash up or vacuum?”); offer safe areas of full control, such as organising their desk.

Why it helps: Rules make sense when grounded in trust and relationship
Tools: Symbol Mastery of Relationship, Trust, Agree, Rules
Examples: Phrase relationally (“Before coats on, after we go to the park”); co-create agreements with the child

Why it helps: Prevents rules being seen as arbitrary
Tools: Concept Mastery of Good, Bad, Right, Wrong
Examples: Use clay models to explore scenarios; reinforce mistakes as learning opportunities, not proof of being “bad.”

By mapping ODD and PDA behaviors against the Davis Autism Approach® framework, we can reframe these conditions in a way that honors the child’s inner world while providing tools that anchor them more securely in reality.

Each concept mastered offers greater self-regulation, resilience, and trust in relationships.

This perspective moves us away from seeing ODD and PDA as behavioral disorders toward recognizing them as challenges of concept development and internal anchoring. With the right tools, children can gain the stability they need to thrive — without losing their creativity, individuality, or spirit.