My DD2 (12) has always tried to avoid situations that make her uncomfortable, she doesn't like rides/slides, etc or things that she thinks will cause her pain and sharp knives are a no - she is like a health & safey officer gone mad sometimes.
It hasn't caused any problems really so far but now she is at secondary school it's getting harder. We practiced chopping vegetables before she started Yr 7 in September and she coped OK with the cooking (although getting things out of the oven was difficult) and the sewing sessions but now she has moved on to woodwork. She told me yesterday that the DT teacher helped her as she didn't want to use the craft knife, he was really nice and told her not to worry but they are going to be using saws and other tools soon. He may be nice for now as this is the first time he has taught her but I can't see the school being too patient forever.
Another example is she has a small splinter in her foot that is causing her pain when walking, however she won't let me try and take it out because it might hurt more - this has been a theme for a long time. She has PE today but I noticed she didn't take her kit with her so she is likely to get in trouble as I haven't written a note about her foot. She can't get past the small amount of pain to make something better.
I just need some advice on how to help her overcome these fears, to undstand that the risk of pain is tiny in most of the situations that she tries to avoid.