Not noticing pain.. is it common in ASD?

[MedusaIsHavingaBadHairday]

My DS2 (ASD mild LDs, and hypotonia) has always seemed to have very little awareness of pain.. he doesn't register feeling unwell until his temperature is through the roof, or he is hospitalised! He doesn't notice blisters if his AFOs rub, and last year he had a pilinoidal cyst and didn't tell us until it was horrendous :( I had been letting him shower by himself so didn't see it.

Last week we were both stung by jellyfish on holiday. It was excrucuiating.. I've never felt anything like it. He said 'ow my arm stings' while I (and others in the sea..a clutch of them had suddenly washed in) ran screaming to the life guards for treatment!

Obviously in this instance it was a bonus for him... but it worries me for his future. He is 17 and we hope will live in supported living one day, but how can he be safe, if he can't notice pain, or illness, or that he needs attention?

Also, different people will have different pain thresholds, with or without ASD

DS1 carried a broken arm around school for 5 hrs, burst an ear drum and had suspected meningitis as a child, but never said a murmur about pain

Yup, we've had fractured bones and burst eardrums here too with such minimal whinging that even the drs had to be persuaded to look more closely.

Same here, although have not had any serious injuries, thank goodness. DS was once stung 19 times by a wasp at nursery (wasp got into his trousers) and all he did was take his trousers off, no crying or anything. He's fallen down the stairs, off the bannister, all sorts of nice big bruises but not a murmur.

I could have written Polter's post. Ds1 (12 AS) never knows when he's ill and has in the past become really poorly when we have missed the signs and he hasn't known he was unwell. (Scarlett Fever and repeated really bad strep throat during Nursery, Reception and Year 1 springs to mind.)

I remember when he was a toddler and was stung by a wasp. He just sat there with a big red/swollen mark on his face saying 'Oh dear, fly' in a really lighthearted voice. This was years before he was diagnosed and I was absolutely gobsmacked, as I know how much wasp stings hurt.

However, if he has the slightest nick on his finger you'd think he'd lost the whole finger for the fuss he makes.

I have gradually learned certain tell tale signs that he's coming down with something, but still get caught out occasionally, as he often has physical symptoms that are down to anxiety/stress, rather than in infection or virus.

Its very usual. I teach sen and have taught very many children with asd and I find this to be a very common issue.

What I have found helpful is a social story which explains that its important for a child to tell an adult when they have fallen over / run into something etc, even if they didn't feel anyway. That way we are able to check them over asap when perhaps they haven't noticed an injury.

When they do tell an adult, we reinforce this with a small reward - a sticker or whatever the child usually has as a reward, to encourage them to do it next time.