What a whirlwind of activity there’s been this week about PDA!

In case, like us, you found it hard to keep up, we’ve done a quick review of some of the key points and linked to the media coverage to date below.

We’re also very keen to capitalise on the momentum created on PDA Action Day – it would be great if we could all now unite behind our #BeingUnderstood campaign! See below for further info.

PDA Action Day review

The day started with PDA being featured on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast – you can catch up on this link (which will only be available for a month). Dr Judy Eaton is interviewed at the 51 minute mark and Julia Daunt at the 1hr 37 mark, with texts read out at various times throughout the show. There is also a recording on Facebook with just the relevant PDA parts of the show.

Sally Russell OBE, PDA Society trustee, was then interviewed by ITV News to discuss the launch of our Being Misunderstood report (video shared with kind permission from ITV Calendar News).

Sally then joined the campaign team and Anna Kennedy OBE at 1pm for the peaceful protest at Westminster which was livestreamed on Facebook.

Several PDA parents shared their stories in the media including ITV Calendar, BBC South, Daily Record, Special Needs Jungle and the Hemel Gazette.

Positive PDA was the theme for PDA Day, with new resources on our website including words of encouragement, the lightbulb moment, the greatest rewards of living with PDA, a celebration of the PDA community and some positive education case studies showing best practice in action.

PDA was also covered in My Family Our Needs and in many blog posts, tweets and Facebook pages on the day, with more coverage to come in the not too distant future.

#BeingUnderstood campaign

The results of the largest survey to date about PDA – compiled in our Being Misunderstood report – were a real wake-up call to many. The PDA Society issued a clear call to action for local authorities to adopt a position statement about PDA.

It would be great if we could all now unite behind our campaign for #BeingUnderstood to become the norm and not the exception for the PDA community. You can do this by

  • Working with us to take action in your local area – we’ve prepared a guide to help you and can support and advise you further if you contact us
  • Sharing information about PDA as widely as possible to help raise awareness and increase acceptance of PDA: our video and social story are easily shareable online
  • Using the term “Being Understood” or the hashtag #BeingUnderstood when talking about PDA to help spread the word

Thank you for your interest and support. Stronger together!