Our Team

Diane Gould, LCSW, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and one of North America’s leading advocates for PDA individuals and their families. As the Founder and Executive Director of PDA North America, she has played a pivotal role in raising awareness, providing education, and building community around PDA (Persistent Drive for Autonomy), also known as Pathological Demand Avoidance or Pervasive Demand Avoidance, across the United States and Canada. She is also the co-author of Navigating PDA in America, written with internationally recognized PDA expert Ruth Fidler and published in June 2024. She is working on her second book co-authored with Zach Morris, focused on PDA and education.

Diane is very late diagnosed autistic and recognizes many characteristics of the PDA profile in herself (although most people who work with her think she is clearly PDA). Alongside more than 40 years of clinical experience, her lived experience informs her compassionate, neuroaffirming approach to supporting PDA individuals, families, and the professionals who work with them.

For more than four decades, Diane has dedicated her career to supporting autistic and other neurodivergent children, adults, and their families. Throughout her work in schools, community agencies, and private practice, she has been fascinated by human behavior and committed to understanding the reasons behind distress rather than simply addressing its outward expression. Today, her private practice in the Chicago suburbs focuses primarily on consultations with parents, family members, and professionals, as well as training. She partners closely with families, frequently attending school meetings alongside parents to advocate for meaningful supports and collaborative solutions. Diane is equally passionate about equipping educators, therapists, and other professionals with practical, relationship-based knowledge that fosters understanding and creates more affirming environments.

Diane’s interest in PDA grew from her extensive work in autism and behavior support. As she explored the PDA literature, she found that its compassionate, relationship-based understanding of autonomy, anxiety, and distress aligned with everything she had believed throughout her career. Recognizing the urgent need for awareness, education, and community in North America, she founded PDA North America during the first American PDA conference in March 2020. Since then, the organization has become the leading nonprofit dedicated to increasing understanding, acceptance, and support for PDA across the continent.