ONE of McFly drummer Harry Judd's three children has been given a life-changing health diagnosis, as revealed by his wife Izzy.
The podcast host and writer, who shares daughter Lola, eight and sons Kit, seven and Lockie, three, with the Star Girl hitmaker, told how one of their offspring was neurodivergent earlier this year.
Now Izzy, 41, who often features on ITV daytime series Lorraine, had has detailed how one of their brood suffers with Pathological Demand Avoidance – which has prompted a huge shift in their parenting technique.
Sufferers of PDA demonstrate an extreme avoidance of demands – even the tasks they want to do.
To accomodate this, and give her child space to do this, Izzy has confessed some people have seen her methods as "lazy" parenting.
In a chat featured on the latest episode of Love Island alum Dr Alex George's Stompcast podcast, she said it has been "one of the most challenging experiences."
She said: "Pathological demand avoidance is linked with autism and it's basically about demands that are put on a child who underneath the demand has a lot of anxiety.
" From the moment a child wakes up in the morning, they are being told to eat their breakfast, get dressed, brush your teeth.
"And all these anxieties are forming in them – that people are putting pressure and demands on them.
"They don't respond to authority or hierarchy. They want autonomy, they want to be in control.
"If you flip it and go, 'I've left your clothes out…' I actually just don't even say it anymore.
"And I don't ask many questions at all because that's placing a demand, and a demand is too anxiety-provoking."
She added to the three-part podcast series: "To the outsider looking in, they might see that as a sort of lazy parenting or a lack of discipline or whatever it is they want to say."
She told how her role was now as a parent "detective" making her think how she could make her children "feel safe" – using "reverse psychology" in order to run family life.
Earlier in the show, she said she "wasn't prepared" as to how different her kids could be after she expanded her brood.
She also admitted she "knew things were different" with one of her children.
Izzy recently launched her own podcast, Let's Talk Neurodivergent Kids and told how she had "absolutely no awareness" of neurodivergent children beforehand.
What is the condition PDA?
IZZY Judd has revealed one of her kids has PDA. Yet what is it? And how is it linked to anxiety?
The main characteristic of pathological demand avoidance (PDA) is when a person has a high level of anxiety when demands are placed upon them.
The nature of the avoidance, along with extreme social behaviour, lead to it being described as "pathological".
People with PDA can appear stressed by seemingly simple every day tasks, and may go to great lengths to avoid them.
PDA is increasingly, but not universally, accepted as a behaviour profile that is seen on some individuals of the autism spectrum.
Those with a PDA profile share similar difficulties to those on the spectrum with the following areas:
- Social communication difficulties
- Social interaction difficulties
- Restrictive and repetitive patterns of behaviour (including sensory seeking or sensory avoiding behaviour)
The central difficulty for those with PDA is their "anxiety-driven need to be in control and avoid other people's demands and expectations."
Pathological demand avoidance is a developmental disorder where there is a great refusal to do what is asked of a child, even to activities they enjoy.
It was proposed in 1980 by UK child psychologist Elizabeth Newson.
PDA PROFILE
The main characteristic of pathological demand avoidance (PDA) is when a person has a high level of anxiety when demands are placed upon them.
The nature of the avoidance, along with extreme social behaviour, lead to it being described as "pathological."
People with PDA can appear stressed by seemingly simple every day tasks, and may go to great lengths to avoid them.
PDA is increasingly, but not universally, accepted as a behaviour profile that is seen on some individuals of the autism spectrum.
MUM LIFE
Previously, former BGT star Izzy was open as she told The Sun she "wasn't prepared" of what was to come when becoming a mum.
Talking of her own health, the violinist revealed her pelvic floor was "not in the best place that it could be" after having three children with her popstar hubby.
The problem means she can no longer use tampons and has had to see a specialist women's health physiotherapist for treatment and support.
Izzy raised concerns most women "just don't know enough" about pelvic floor health after birth, because of a lack of information and the taboos around the subject.
"I think we underestimate what our bodies have actually been through," she said on an episode of the Mother Bodies postnatal health podcast.
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