Should I stay or should I go?

It's been fifteen years. 15 years of online work and raising awareness of PDA.

Hello and apologies for the lyrical opener. Slightly tongue in cheek, because I’m not about to flounce off anywhere, but this question has been on my mind a lot lately.

This week saw the anniversary of two important events that happened 15 years ago. The day our younger daughter was diagnosed with autism and the day I started my blog. I’ve been sharing our story across various social media platforms for most of that time.

Is fifteen years long enough? Is it time to call it a day? Or can I carry on helping other families? There’s a reason I’m asking this now.

Social media used to be the way I could ‘spread the word’ about Pathological Demand Avoidance and help others understand, but these days the algorithms tend to work against me. After so many years of blogging I know what I’d need to do to have more success on social media (make videos, be funny, post consistently) but that’s just not me. And at this stage in my life, I’m questioning what the way forward should be - maybe heading back to words only (with audio recording for accessibility) is what I should focus on?

I've just published a new post about this journey* on my blog (with apologies to people who dislike that word).

This photo was taken when the girls were around 8 and 6; I loved it at the time so I added it as my blog header (thanks to a very brilliant friend who is great at design) and kept it there ever since.

I started these Substack email newsletters last year and am still getting my head around how it all works, so please bear with me. I know that about half the people who signed up for them open the email (and hopefully read it!) but I also know that only a small proportion (less than 10%) ever click a link in an email. I’m not judging, as someone who also has an overflowing inbox I totally get that. And I expect some people might ‘unsubscribe’ as soon as my email arrives this time because they can’t face any more emails (or they find me uninteresting, also possible…!).

But… I would appreciate it SO much if you could find the time to click/tap the image above or the underlined words and read my new blog post: Fifteen Years of Blogging. What next?

There are so many posts (872!) and so much information on there that I think could still help other families who may be struggling, from those right at the beginning of their journey (as we were, 15 years ago) to those who are facing challenges with the education system.

These days I feel like there’s so much to say/type but not enough time to do it. For a variety of reasons, I have to consider my choice of words in a way that I didn’t when I first started blogging. That change is good, of course, but it takes more time and leads to less being said ‘out loud’ - a lot of this stays in my head because when I do try to let it out, it feels jumbled and as if I’m missing something.

Maybe I should leave social media behind. But I don’t think that includes Substack. I love this little corner of the internet and appreciate every one of you who ever opens an email from me. The only thing I miss that happens more on FB and Insta is the interaction - more comments and replies please!

Here’s just one more link for you today - a post that will lead you to the top ten posts I’ve written with key PDA information: Top Ten information posts about PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance)

Question Time

As mentioned at the beginning, this is a tongue in cheek question - and if anyone chooses go I will take it that you’re suggesting that for my own sake :)

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, please get in touch via stephstwogirls@gmail.com or reply to this email. If you know someone else who would like more info about PDA, please feel free to forward them this email and ask them to subscribe to receive further updates!