Exploring Demand Avoidance in Autistic and Non-Autistic Adulthood

Demand Avoidance (DA) is observed in many conditions, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). ASD is characterised by social-communicative difficulties and restrictive behaviours, whereas DA involves an obsessive resistance to everyday requests, a need to be in control when interacting with others, and a tendency to go to extreme lengths in the service of avoidance and control (Newson et al., 2003; O'Nions et al., 2013). The co-occurrence between PDA and ASD is poorly understood. Better understanding of DA in adulthood, as we will explore in the proposed research, has potential to improve understanding and individualised management strategies of ASD and other conditions, and thereby advance research and clinical approaches to various conditions.