Sensory overload and pain question (asd)

[chopstheduck]

ds1 has for the past year or so had pain in his joints, particularly his hips and ankles. He is fine until a point, then the joints become painful, then if he carries on his legs jsut collapse, and he can't weight bear at all. This was initially blamed on hypermobile joints. But as he has gotten older, his hips and ankles aren't so severely mobile (though his upper body is) and so physio and OT don't think it is jsut the hypermobility causing the pain.

The paed thinks it may be somne other muscular/skeletal issue. The physio is suggesting it is down to sensory overload. I'm not sure. The pain does seem to occur more frequently in situations where sensory overload is a factor, but I don't see why it would cause him to feel pain in his hips and ankles, or get to the point of collapse. When he shuts down from sensory overload, he will curl up and try to go to sleep, or bolt. When he collapses and says about pain, he looks, shocked, scared and keeps trying to get up again.

Has anyone ever heard of pain manifesting in this way from sensory overload?

Mine don't experience pain from sensory overload but I've noticed that sensory stuff can often reduce their tolerance levels for other things.

This might be similar for your ds. If any pain is usually low-level and tolerable, it might be that he becomes much more sensitive to it when he gets a sensory overload.

Dd1 (Aspergers) complains of pain in her joints (mainly her feet and some times her wrists and fingers). She doesn't collapse but will refuse to walk. I am trying to get her looked at by the pead but i need a referal from the school nurse (so i'm told) so i still don't know what is wrong with her.

When dd1 was 2-3 years old she refused to walk outside so from birth-3.5 years old she rarely walked outside and when she did she was very stiff and almost looked like she was in pain. She's now almost 6 and still slow on her feet but will now walk of different surfaces. I offten wonder if the fact she would not walk outside may have effected the development of her joints and mobility.

that sounds very odd marne, it might be worth asking for a physio referral. Didn't you post somewhere else that she is very hypermobile too? Our current advice has been to slowly build him up. Not very easy though when ds could jsut drop and I'm stuck with him! Or bolt and I have to leave the dts to retrieve him.

the thing with ds is that he used to walk, but just lost all stamina over a few months, and could no longer walk far at all without complaining of pain. He used to fall over all the time, (dyspraxia) but mostly ok as far as that goes, but then the pain started.

coppertop, I think that could well be it, maybe he can't cope with the pain from the hypermobility.

I posted on here a while ago, i didn't really know about hypermobile until people on here told me about it , i always thought dd was bendy, she sits in odd positions (does the splits), we always called her a frog when she was a baby as her legs were always drawn up and outwards (like a frog), she still sleeps in the frog position on her front with her legs drawn up pointing outwards.

I think i will mention it again to the HV as she's phoning me this week to talk about dd2. We rarely take her far unless in a buggy (she's getting too big for the buggy now), if i take her shopping she refuses to go in more than 2 shops and she's contently looking for places where she can sit down.

Son complains of a stabbing feeling when he;s exposed to the noise of someone coughing.

Hypersensitivity is a horrible thing

I remember that thread, marne! Def is worth getting it checked out.

I'm now wodnering how to deal with it. He is going to be referred to a sensory specialist thingy(?) The thing is though the physio wants him to build back to walking a mile to school again. But even if it does turn out there is not a physical reason for extreme pain, if that pain is unbearable for him, surely it is just as valid as if it were unbearable for a NT person?