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Pain & Children with ASD

20 replies

joencaitlinsmum · 19/10/2012 14:05

Just wondering how children with ASD process and deal with pain and injuries etc?

My DS seems to make a mountain over a mole hill for anything minor and can almost catalogue every bruise and miniscule cut on his body yet if he has a more significant injury (he dislocated his collar bone yesterday!) he hardly complains at all Confused

Is this just him or a further problem associated with ASD?

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Ineedalife · 19/10/2012 14:11

I think it is almost certainly ASD related.

Dd3 constantly has various major injuries that she likes to tell us about all the time.

Luckily she hasnt had any bad bumps so I dont know how she would react.

MsNg · 19/10/2012 14:36

Common. Children with ASD can be both under and over sensitive to pain and to input from all the other senses though it's usually one or other rather than both I can quite believe that it possible to experience both. My DS has been known to have serious injuries and not even mention it. He's also gagging at the tiniest bad smell and wriggles non-stop as he's under sensitive to proprioception... BUT he gets upset by loud noises yet listens to the radio at an insane volume and can be incredibly loud himself.

BabeRuthless · 19/10/2012 14:37

Ds has asd and takes it really personally if he hurts himself. Even a little nick can be a recipe for disaster. Then again when he's rushing around playing I've seen him take a big bump & then carry on like nothing's happened.

moosemama · 19/10/2012 14:43

Ds1 thinks he's dying if he has a teeny-tiny cut or graze and makes an enormous fuss, but when he does something more serious he doesn't even mention it.

It's the same with illnesses. Bit of a sniffle, definitely pneumonia and dying - rushed to the doctors unable to breathe - doctor panics, says his chest is dangerously tight and rushes him to be nebulised and ds asks what all the fuss was about because he's fine. Confused

He also tells me he's not ill when he's throwing up repeatedly - but I think that's because he can't bear the thought of not being allowed to eat normally for a couple of days.

DameMargotFountain · 19/10/2012 14:49

yup DD has ASD, she can still feel a scar on the palm of her hand where she fell and grazed it about 6mths ago, yet 'forgot' to tell me something fell on her head (i'm almost sure it wasn't anything she was fiddling with, honest Wink) at school where she needed an ice pack

there isn't a day goes by when DD doesn't have a tummy ache

Strongecoffeeismydrug · 19/10/2012 17:30

DS broke his leg in 2 places and I only knew cos he was limping!even when he was in a and e waiting for x rays he never cried.
He's just come home with a duck egg head after falling at school,they rung me to tell me but DS hasn't mentioned it!
However try to cut his nails and he says I'm hurting him

1950sThrowback · 19/10/2012 23:11

Ds was in A&E with really nasty burn as a toddler - not a whimper, even when it first happened - nurses and doctors clearly very interested in the lack of crying - but no-one mentioned possible ASD - at the time I thought they suspected us of some kind of abuse, but in the end no-one said anything specific and they just treated him and didn't say anything more about it.

coff33pot · 20/10/2012 00:53

We have so far had a fractured leg in 3 places, fractured finger in 2, disclocated elbow, abcess to the point of bursting, neck popped out and cracked back in again oh and fell 6ft off the end of a skate ramp onto his knees and have fallen and taken the same scab off 3 times the other week. Not a wimper on any.

Stubbed his toe on the door screamed blue murder same when the cat scratched him :)

DameMargotFountain · 20/10/2012 08:07

this thread is making me think more and more that DS1 is also on the spectrum - he's always been 'enigmatic' i think the kind word is for him, had lots of obsessions about TV characters when he was small (he's 28 now) his secondary school teachers described him as 'nonchalant' and 'aloof'.
he still calls me now to sort out his personal life (he asks me basic questions like 'why hasn't she called, she said she'd ring after i finished work, i've been at home for half an hour')

he broke his arm at primary school and carried on all day, not telling anyone how much it hurt as he didn't want me to have to get out of work early.

at infant school he had such a bad ear infection, and didn't let on because he wanted to be in the school production, that he collapsed and fitted and they had him in isolation at hospital as they suspected meningitis!

i know he broke his arm skateboarding as it was bruised 'red' for weeks but he wouldn't go and get it looked at.

yet thinks if someone has a sniffle at work they should go home due to their germs....

WofflingOn · 20/10/2012 08:23

Mine is now 17, he has sensory issues related to clothing so that a piece of grit in his boot cripples him, a minor scrape on the finger is a major issue, a splinter is beyond bearing.
Serious injury, slashings that require stitches, bruises over half his body, burned foot, crushed hand/arm under rocks? Barely notices other than when it is stiff and impedes what he wants to do.
And he never recognises when he's ill, unless it involves D & V which he understands as symptoms.
So I do think it is related to being on the spectrum. Smile

JackJacksmummy · 20/10/2012 19:21

My DS has an extremely high pain threshold. He'll fall in a way I know it has GOT to hurt and then gets straight back up, shouts "I ok" and carries on running. I call Forrest now lol!!!

JackJacksmummy · 20/10/2012 19:22

Him**

mumslife · 20/10/2012 23:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

neverputasockinatoaster · 21/10/2012 15:12

Yup. Ds is the same. Stubs his toe and yells as if he is being murdered.....

Wallops himself a on the door in a way I know hurts and just carries on......

StillIRise · 21/10/2012 15:15

Yup. DD us the same. Screaming because of a hangnail but walked around for a week with a broken wrist.

MyAngelChuckles · 21/10/2012 20:05

my Ds is like this, the tiniest bump and he's off on one, he makes me smile though as he always has to add just a touch of drama every time :)

ArthurPewty · 22/10/2012 13:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AlwaysInWonder · 22/10/2012 14:48

Yep,
ds2 screams at the smallest scratch. Couldn't hold my hand because I had a plaster on it etc...
Then got a tooth infection and didn't say a thing. Well it was just a bit uncomfortable when brushing his teeth. He has a swollen cheek and a huge white lump in his gum Confused

Penneyanne · 22/10/2012 16:49

Ds is definitely the same-screaming at the tiniest touch to his arm,leg etc and yet can roll around the floor with dh in a brutal wrestling match without flinchingConfused.Same with noise-very sensitive to loud noise but can make a hell of a racket himself sometimesHmm.
Damemargot,your ds wondering why his girlfriend hasnt rung makes me think that is exactly what my ds will be like. If I say to him'yes,i'll do it in a minute' he will then often say 'but mum,you said in a minute and its now one minute and thirty seconds'Hmm.

Original poster
joencaitlinsmum · 23/10/2012 12:10

Thanks everyone, looks like we are all singing off the same hymn sheet then lol! Just need to make it clear when we go back to the fracture clinic this week that because he says it does'nt hurt does'nt mean its ok and healed, A&E looked at me as if I was mad when I said he doesnt feel severe pain Hmm

My DS also hates loud noises and crowds yet uses his earphones and ipod to help him cope with it Confused, also the same with time etc Smile

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