Very High Pain Threshold

[Bumblelion]

Does anyone else's child suffer from this.

My daughter who has sotos syndrome seems to have a very high pain threshold and only gets upset (after falling over, banging her head, etc.) when she actually sees the blood. If she covers the blood (cut knee, for example) with her skirt and she can't see it she is really not bothered about it.

Her school nursery today mentioned to me about this as they noticed she had fallen in the playground and badly grazed her knee. She was not at all upset until they took her inside to clean it up and apply a plaster (it was quite a large cut) and she saw the blood.

They also said that when she was playing outside her hands with "purple" with the cold. I know children don't feel the cold but this seemed a bit worse than just that.

Also it seems we have to be careful in any circumstances where there are or could be extreme temperatures as she doesn't seem to feel extreme hot or cold.

School want it recorded so that when she starts mainstream reception in September the playground assistant needs to be aware of this (additional) need of hers just in case she has a bad fall but she won't cry like any other child.

Any one else have this?

I work with SEN kids (am poorly so at home today ) in my experience this is really quite common. it is important that everyone knows about it

dd2 is like this. she has cut her feet open when playing outside and not noticed. we have to check her after falls for cuts as she has had several infections ater we havent spotted a cut and cleaned it. but like your dd if she sees the blood then she cries. she has started to 'cry' (but not tears) as now knows it means she gets a big cuddle and lots of fuss. i have taklen to carrying a small first aid kit in my bad and in the car as she is very clumsey and falls a lot.

not so bad with extremes of temperatires, tho wil lstill eat a meal thats very hot where as dd1 will wait for it to cool down.

Ds1 (5.5yrs) is fairly similar. The only places he seems to feel pain is on the palms of his hands and the top of his head. These 2 areas are hypersensitive.

He's had some horrendous bruising on his legs from falling over and several cuts but just doesn't seem to feel them at all. Most of the time he only notices that they are there if someone points them out to him.

Does your dd tend to feel pain when she is ill? If not then it might also be worth putting that on record too just in case. It's a good idea to let the playground staff know that they can't rely on the usual rule of "If the child isn't crying then it's obviously nothing serious'.

I think I would say that she doesn't feel pain even when she is poorly but then she is only 4 (with developmental delay) and she can't always communicate but I always know with my other two when they are coming down with something but with her it seems to be different.

I have to be more on my guard.

dd2 wont tell me if she is feeling ill. i have to go on how she 'looks' (she goes very pale and her eyes look heavy).

Ds is just as bad. The only time he ever really cried was when he knocked his tooth out and split his mouth open on the ground. He shut up when the ambulance turned up and I didn't hear a peep out of him for the entire weekend we were in the hospital. His nursery have given up reporting every little bump and graze as he is covered in them. I definately know if he has he has hurt himsef badly though because he becomes a banshee.

oh yes, you know if dd2 has really badly hurt herself by the screams.

Certainly with autism you often don't get the behaviours related to hurting yourself. Whimpering, looking for attention, acting as if its much worse than it is. There is also some evidence that people with ASD (and it could apply to others I suppose) have higher levels of, gawd what is that stuff called? is it seratonin? SOmething like that. Anyway, they have higher levels in their brain which means they literally don't feel pain as easily as someone else. This also ties into some self-injurious behaviour where, first they don't feel it as much but second they do it to produce this hormone that I can't remember as it makes them feel good, so you can get a double whammy.
Someone tell me what the stuff is called?