Autism - overreacting to being ill

[usernamebore]

Hi

Quick q for all you experts - my 12 year old DS was recently diagnosed as ASD. One thing I was wondering about is whenever he has even a mild cold or is being a bit run down, he seems to (from my ND perspective) completely overreact to it and act as though he is at death's door. I am still trying to educate myself on all this, but know there are things relating to introspection and their own internal feelings/sensations etc which could be at play here. Is he actually feeling "more" sick than I would from a mild cold, or is he just overreacting and I need to give him a good kick up the proverbial and tell him to stop moaning?

Could be either tbh.

What's his pain sensitivity like? If he's over-sensitive to tactile senses then regular cold aches and pains may be more acute for him. Or if he has anxiety then he may have an exaggerated anxiety response to being ill and be feeling on edge. Fatigue will reduce his tolerance for other sensory stimulation so things like noise may trigger him more easily than normal.

Or he could just be acting like a bit of a drama queen. With or without autism, he's still 12 and probably starting to get a few hormones kicking in...take your pick, OP.

😂yeah I figured as much. Just still trying to work out how knowing he has ASD affects how tough to be with him on things like this. If he was NT I would be telling him to suck it up, as we all get sick and just have to get on with things, but now we know about the autism, I am feeling a bit at sea

DS may well feel more unwell had someone else with the same illness. For example, some ND individuals feel pain differently/more intensely. Or DS could be finding the illness harder to cope with.