xMinds Speaker Series - Understanding Autistic Burnout & the Overlap with PDA - Dr. David Black

xMinds Speaker Series:

Autistic Burnout & the Overlap with PDA

with Dr. David Black, Director and Co-Founder of Center for Assessment and Treatment (CAAT)

Location: Virtual

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, February 26,  7 - 8:30 p.m.

Center for Assessment And Treatment (CAAT) co-founder and pediatric neuropsychologist Dr. David O. Black will help us better understand autistic burnout — a state of deep, long-term exhaustion caused by chronic stress and unmet support needs. It often includes loss of skills or functioning and a reduced ability to tolerate everyday demands. For autistic people, this experience can be especially intense, and recovery often takes significantly more time.

This presentation will also explore the overlap between autistic burnout and a subtype of autism known as Persistent Drive for Autonomy (PDA). This perspective reframes what is often labeled as “defiant” behavior as signs of a nervous system under stress, which requires regulation and autonomy rather than punishment or pressure.

Join us to learn how to recognize early warning signs of autistic burnout and gain practical, compassionate strategies that support regulation, recovery, and well-being for autistic individuals and their families.

SPEAKER BIO:

Dr. David O. Black is a pediatric neuropsychologist and internationally recognized expert in autism spectrum and related disorders. In addition to his work with individuals who have social and self-regulatory problems, Dr. Black provides comprehensive neuropsychological assessment and consultation services to children, adolescents, and adults with learning differences, attention disorders, and medical conditions such as epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, and genetic disorders. Prior to founding CAAT, Dr. Black was a researcher in the Pediatrics and Developmental Neuroscience Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health, NIH.

Live Spanish Translation will be available during the webinar/Habrá interpretación en vivo al español durante el seminario web.