When “noncompliance” is really anxiety, pushing harder can make everything harder.
Learn to recognize the Persistent Drive for Autonomy (PDA) profile, understand what may be happening beneath demand avoidance, and adapt your ABA practice without abandoning the science.
Start the course
For BCBA®s who have ever looked at a case and thought: we have tried the reinforcement, changed the consequences, adjusted the demand — so why is this getting harder?
Some clients are not refusing because the reinforcer is wrong or the contingency is weak.
- — A simple request triggers a response that seems wildly out of proportion to the task.
- — Rewards and consequences that usually change behavior seem to have almost no effect.
- — A parent tells you, “We have tried everything,” and for once you suspect they may be exactly right.
- — Transitions look like the problem, but the real difficulty may begin the moment the transition becomes a demand.
- — The client has been described as oppositional, defiant, controlling, manipulative, or simply “bad.”
- — You want to stay grounded in behavior analysis while also taking anxiety, autonomy, assent, and nervous-system regulation seriously.
What this course is — and what it isn't
This course is
- A practical introduction to the PDA profile through the lens of anxiety, autonomy, and behavior
- A way to rethink cases where ordinary reinforcement, punishment, prompting, or demand strategies are not producing the expected result
- Concrete guidance for parent training, co-regulation, communication, trust-building, and reducing unnecessary demands
- A bridge between behavior analysis, mental health knowledge, trauma-assumed care, and neurodiversity-affirming practice
Worth knowing before you start
- PDA is not a formal diagnosis in the United States; the course discusses it as a profile or Persistent Drive for Autonomy
- The research base is still developing, particularly within ABA, and the course is transparent about where the literature is limited
- This is not an argument that every difficult response to a demand is PDA — or that ABA is the right treatment for every person
Three reframes that can change the direction of a case
The training moves beyond the label of “demand avoidance” and asks what the person may actually be responding to.
“They won't do it.”
Consider whether the person wants to do it but cannot tolerate what the demand evokes in that moment.
“The transition is the problem.”
Look at the anxiety and loss of autonomy attached to the demand within the transition.
“The parent isn't following through.”
Start by believing the family may truly have tried everything they were told to try.
What you'll learn
Two lessons move from understanding the profile to making practical changes in treatment and parent support.
Explore autonomy, social hierarchy, demand avoidance, emotional responses, anxiety, and how the presentation may differ from ODD and other diagnoses.
Distinguish explicit from implicit demands and notice how ordinary language, expectations, transitions, and even self-imposed goals can function as demands.
Examine why reinforcement, punishment, and compliance-focused approaches may not work as expected when anxiety and autonomy are central variables.
Use functional communication, modeling, self-monitoring, flexibility, collaboration, and individualized treatment while staying grounded in behavior analysis.
Learn how adult behavior, modeling, and nervous-system regulation can help a client return to a state where learning and problem solving are more possible.
Approach parent burnout, shame, and hopelessness with greater compassion — and teach caregivers how to respond without escalating the demand cycle.
Behavior analysis meets mental health
The heart of this training comes from Nicole Dionne's unusual overlap of experience: she is both a BCBA® and a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, with roughly two decades in mental health practice.
That matters here because the course lives in territory behavior analysts are increasingly asked to navigate: anxiety, trauma-assumed care, neurodiversity-affirming practice, parent burnout, and what to do when a technically correct intervention is not meeting the person in front of you.
Amelia Dalphonse, MA, BCBA, co-founder of Master ABA, joins Nicole in framing the material for practicing behavior analysts.
The premise: ABA does not have to become something other than behavior analysis in order to become more individualized, collaborative, and responsive to what autistic people and families are telling us.
The goal: leave with more ways to conceptualize a difficult case — not a new label to apply to every client who avoids demands.
The standard: stay curious enough to change the intervention when the intervention is not working.
What's included
The complete training, practical application, CEUs, and the bonuses currently included with the course.
PDA terminology, autonomy, nervous-system responses, anxiety, core characteristics, demand avoidance, explicit and implicit demands, and why traditional strategies may not work as expected.
Identifying the profile in practice, anxiety-focused supports, parent training, burnout, co-regulation, clinician self-awareness, trust, flexibility, and reducing unnecessary demands.
Complete the training requirements and quizzes to earn 2.5 General CEUs.
Plus four bonuses included with your purchase
A companion workbook to help you organize the course concepts and apply them to your own cases.
A structured worksheet for identifying the professional guidance, mentorship, and support you need as your practice develops.
A parent-facing resource that helps caregivers notice and better understand their own responses during difficult interactions.
A practical tool for identifying where your current competence ends, where consultation may be needed, and what to strengthen next.
What BCBA®s say about this course
Reviews from people who've taken The Hidden Cost of Compliance.
"I also got a ton of NEW information... I have multiple steps for parent training and programming as I move forward. I wouldn't say I feel this inspired/educated after all CEU events."
"The presenter's dual certification in behavior analysis and mental health brought a unique, well-rounded perspective... with practical treatment strategies I could immediately apply in a school setting."
"This is such an important topic. Thank you for going in depth into characteristics of the profile as well as ways to support clients and their families."
The Hidden Cost of Compliance
A practical training for the cases where “just follow through” is not a sufficient clinical plan.
Who this course is built for
This is for you if
- You work with autistic clients whose response to demands feels unusually intense or difficult to explain
- You have cases where reinforcement and consequences are not producing the changes you would normally expect
- You want to better understand anxiety without stepping outside your scope as a behavior analyst
- You want more compassionate ways to work with families who are already exhausted and feel blamed by providers
- You are trying to make your ABA practice more assent-aware, individualized, and neurodiversity affirming
Come in knowing
- PDA remains a developing and debated construct, particularly in the United States
- The course intentionally incorporates literature and concepts from outside behavior analysis where ABA research is limited
- The goal is better case conceptualization and individualized care — not diagnosing PDA or applying a one-size-fits-all protocol
Questions before you start
Is PDA a diagnosis?
No. The course is explicit that PDA is not a formal diagnosis in the United States. Nicole uses the phrase Persistent Drive for Autonomy to describe the profile and to move away from more pathologizing language.
Is this only for clients who definitely have PDA?
No. The course is useful precisely because many BCBA®s may encounter clients with some of these characteristics without having any formal PDA identification. The emphasis is on noticing patterns, building hypotheses, and adjusting support to the individual.
Does the course say ABA should not be used with PDA?
The training discusses why strict, compliance-focused behavioral approaches are not recommended for this profile. It also makes the case that behavior analysts can adapt practice — listening to autistic advocates, individualizing treatment, reducing unnecessary demands, and staying true to behavioral science.
Does this cover parent training?
Yes. Parent and caregiver support is a major part of Lesson 2, including burnout, shame and blame, co-regulation, behavior-management support for the adults, and how provider language can either build or damage trust.
How many CEUs is the course?
The course provides 2.5 BACB General CEUs.
The behavior may look like defiance. Your next question determines what happens next.
Build a broader clinical lens for anxiety, autonomy, demand avoidance, and the families trying to navigate all three.
Start the course — $57