Episode 33
Beyond the 4pm Meltdown: Understanding Your PDA Child's After-School Overwhelm
Published on:
20th August, 2026
About the Podcast
Attuned Spectrum: Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) Autism Parenting Support | Low Demand Parenting
Is every day a battle you didn’t sign up for? You’re not failing. Your child isn’t broken. The approach just needs to change.
The Attuned Spectrum Podcast is for parents navigating the complex, exhausting, and often isolating reality of raising a PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) autistic child — whether they’re five, fifteen, or twenty-five.
Hosted by Chantal Hewitt — Family Autism Support Coach, experienced educator, late-diagnosed autistic, ADHD and PDA mum of three neurodivergent children including a PDA son — this is the podcast that meets you where you actually are. Not where you’re supposed to be.
Here we move beyond behaviour management and into nervous system safety, low-demand parenting, and connection-first approaches that actually work. We cover school refusal, autistic meltdowns, co-regulation, PDA burnout, and the transition to adulthood that nobody prepares you for.
If you’ve ever Googled “is it me?” at 11pm — this is your place.
New episodes fortnightly. Follow so you never miss one.
The Attuned Spectrum Podcast is for parents navigating the complex, exhausting, and often isolating reality of raising a PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) autistic child — whether they’re five, fifteen, or twenty-five.
Hosted by Chantal Hewitt — Family Autism Support Coach, experienced educator, late-diagnosed autistic, ADHD and PDA mum of three neurodivergent children including a PDA son — this is the podcast that meets you where you actually are. Not where you’re supposed to be.
Here we move beyond behaviour management and into nervous system safety, low-demand parenting, and connection-first approaches that actually work. We cover school refusal, autistic meltdowns, co-regulation, PDA burnout, and the transition to adulthood that nobody prepares you for.
If you’ve ever Googled “is it me?” at 11pm — this is your place.
New episodes fortnightly. Follow so you never miss one.
About your host
Chantal Hewitt
Chantal Hewitt is a late-diagnosed autistic, ADHD, and PDA mum, Family Autism Support Coach, and host of The Attuned Spectrum Podcast — one of the world's top PDA Parenting shows. She exists in this space because she needed it first.