What is Pathological Demand Avoidance or “Pervasive Drive for Autonomy”? The answer depends on the audience. For example, if I am interacting with my son’s friends’ parents, I keep it simple (unless they want to know more): “My son has a nervous system disability, which is a little known part of the Autism spectrum.” If I am communicating with teachers or grandparents, I would talk more about the physiological mechanisms (fight/flight/freeze and what happens in his body with metabolism, adrenali