Drawing on literature, lived experience, and practice wisdom, Jessia will help attendees to better understand how to support and accommodate children and youth who express pathologial demand avoidance (PDA) [or persistent drive for autonomy] common among those who are neruodivergent.
Jessica Mertins, LICSW, has a masters of social work from the University of St. Thomas/Saint Catherine University and is currently an outpatient therapist, licensure supervisor, and Neurodiversity Specialist at Fernbrook Family Center. She trains from a perspective that blends her lived experience as a neurodivergent person, her professional experience, and her research and learning from other lived experience educators.
