The Baby Fold’s vice president of clinical operations has released a new book and app to help families better understand and respond to the needs of neurodivergent children.
The book, “Pilot’s Drive for Autonomy: the Neurodynamic Navigator System,” provides a guide to children diagnosed with Pathological Demand Avoidance [PDA], a subtype of autism. In PDA, the nervous system interprets everyday demands or expectations as overwhelming and triggers strong avoidance responses.
The author, Dr. Jennifer Huffman, has spent 25 years studying neurodivergent individuals and began her current role with The Baby Fold in July 2025. She was diagnosed with autism in her 30s. Huffman began studying neuropsychology because she knew before that diagnosis that her own brain worked differently than her peers.
“It was like a light bulb, like, ‘This is what I'm going to do,’ and 'I'm going to work with other individuals to help them understand their brains, because I could have used that,'” said Huffman.
The book shares information that is especially helpful for those with kids who are going through assessments, or otherwise have not received much treatment.
“It's really the manual my parents needed that they didn't have 50 years ago, when I was younger,” said Huffman.
People with PDAs have a particular way of interacting with others that makes knowledge of how they operate beneficial — for both the parents and educators, and the child. The child is also known as the “pilot.”
“They have a strong desire for autonomy and safety, and when that's misunderstood, it looks like they're choosing not to do things. So, this is a way of helping people feel like they understand that better,” said Huffman.
“Really it came from thinking, ‘What do I need parents and teachers to do?’ I need them to realize they are the navigators and they’ve got to keep their hands off the wheel and make sure they're supporting the pilot.”
While tests and screenings are still important for these children, the issue is that they are still, in Huffman’s words, “static.”
“It doesn't always really coincide with what we see at 5:00 in the morning, and we're trying to get their shoes on, and things like that. So that's really what I was looking for — how do we really get this information to what's happening in the moment? And that it's not something that a therapist has to share with them, it's not something they have to pay thousands of dollars to get information that they can utilize,” said Huffman.
At the core of both the book and companion app is what Huffman dubbed the Neuro-Dynamic Quotient, a trademarked formula that maps nervous system functioning and guides how families can respond to behavior.
It offers real-time data for parents or guardians to look back over after the fact, checking for factors that could have changed the situation in an instance of a meltdown or stressful situation.
“There are some aspects that are color coded, so that a parent or a teacher can have a red zone pop up in their mind, thinking, ‘Okay, this is a time when I know what I need to do, and it's to reduce sensory, stop talking, lower demands,’ and times that I call blue skies, which are when they're doing great,” said Huffman.
Those "blue skies" situations provide an opportunity to talk with a child about something important, when otherwise they would not be as responsive to such talks.
Baby Fold connection
The Baby Fold is Central Illinois’ largest child welfare agency. Services include foster care, adoption support, special education, autism programs, early childhood initiatives, crisis intervention and more.
Huffman’s work aligns closely with the Baby Fold mission. She was previously a consultant with the organization.
“We want to make sure that our leadership is reflecting and is reflecting those who we serve, and I think Dr. Huffman's book, as well as her phone app, is just a wonderful modern day, new age example of how we are serving our community,” said Sam Guillory, vice president of development and public relations.
Additionally, many who benefit from Baby Fold programming, including special education students at Hammitt Elementary School in Normal, are on the autism spectrum.
