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McFly Drummer Harry Judd’s wife Izzy Johnston has revealed that one of their three children has Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA).
PDA syndrome is a specific profile within the autism spectrum, where children display a strong desire for independence and talk about opting out of daily tasks due to feelings of anxiety. NHS,
Johnson, 41, who was part of the electric string quartet Escala, said she doesn’t even tell her child to leave their clothes outside for the day because the instruction is “too wordy.”
“To people looking in from the outside, it might seem like a kind of lazy parenting or a lack of discipline or whatever they want to say,” Johnston said of Dr. Alex George. stompcast,
Children suffering from PDA may use several strategies to avoid their demands. According to the NHS these include delaying tactics, distraction, shouting, falling to the ground, talking or running away.
Typical behaviors include: resistance to everyday demands, being friendly but lacking depth of understanding, extreme mood swings, fantasy play, and obsessive behavior focused on others.
“As soon as the child wakes up in the morning, he or she is asked to have breakfast, get dressed, brush their teeth,” Johnson said.
“And there are all these anxieties that are arising in them – that people are putting pressure and demands on them. They don’t respond to authority or hierarchy. They want autonomy, they want to be in control.”
Johnson previously shared that she no longer tells her neurodivergent child to wear a coat when the weather is cold, but she is confident he will have autonomy over getting his clothes on and other daily tasks.
The musician said that initially he faced “really heavy” criticism from others because his child did not behave like other children.
She explained: “You have to go through a kind of grief process that things aren’t going to be how you thought.”
According to the NHS, children and young people with PDA syndrome generally do not respond to traditional methods recommended for autism.
Instead, they respond better to more flexible, non-confrontational and personalized approaches. “The most important thing is to gain a strong understanding of the person’s presentation,” the guidance reads.
Johnson, who has daughter Lola, eight, sons Kit, seven, and Lockie, three, with Judd, did not reveal which of her children was diagnosed as neurodivergent.
Judd and Johnston met when the musician was performing at McFly in 2005 wonderland Travel They married seven years later and welcomed their first child in 2016.