awareness of pain in ASD

[Macforme]

My DS2 (ASD MLD hypotonia etc etc) doesn't seem to register pain normally. If he SEES an injury he will be anxious because it looks different, but if he can't actually see it he will not say if something hurts.

Recently he had a bowel impaction..he ended up hospitalised.. he hadn't said he couldn't 'go' and it was only a fluke that I discovered he was passing nothing but blood..
Friday at school a TA stopped me to ask if I'd seen his leg (no, Daddy had showered him the last 3 days)..he has a large sore under his splint.

Last night when I took off his splints and socks I was horrified to find his little toe was mangled.. big cut, skin sheared off..looks horrible. I asked what on earth had happened (he was at a drama group) and he said someone shut the door on his foot by accident. I said did it hurt..he said I don't know.

It's always been this way..he's 12 and has never seemed to register pain . Small daily changes to routine stress him.. but physical injuries don't register . After having 7 teeth removed (impacted not decayed!) he tried to eat a cheese sandwich as soon as he woke up....

It worries me because I think that not noticing injuries puts him at risk for infection etc.

Does anyone else have this experience?

Interesting. Ds 10 (MLD/ASD)used to be more concerned about lack of function than pain. He would also never learn from painful accidents and constantly make the same mistakes - like walking into lamposts. He is now more aware of pain although he is always more distressed by injuries he can see ( blood!). He seems more worried by injuries on others! He can be very distressed by a minor itch or a label! I think the change to better pain awareness came slowly after a particularly painful condition at around 7. Ds also suffers chronic constipation which has been much better under control in the last couple of years - so I do wonder if chronic pain affects the 'wiring' or perhaps it is the other way around.
Does any one understand pain reception? Is the gate theory still valid - I have a vaugue recollection it had been disprooved ( showing my age here).

I have both extremes: I register the tiniest unexpected touch as intense pain and shock, but can totally fail to notice really big injuries. DS played rugby with a broken foot because he hadn't even realised it was broken. Somehow our whole pain response is wired up differently.

DS1 rarely registers deep pain and we have to physically check he's not hurt if he has a fall or anything. He does freak out if there's a scratch or bruise that he can see, though and will scratch himself raw if his skin itches when he has an eczema flair up or pick at scabs if he is out of sorts. Telling him we will use the elastoplast spray on him if he keeps scratching horrifies him, though, since he really does feel that type of pain

id have to agree with amberlight, seems asd are wired for pain differently

myself went to college after a stabbing in my thiegh without any bother even after the stitched tore out

DS1 has horrible scars form the chicken pox he had, this time last year. It was May before some of the scabs healed, simply because he wouldn't leave them alone. He's permanently covered in bruises all up his legs and even on his back, though, because he's always careering into stuff.

As always, DS2 is the opposite. If he walks into a chair (which happens rather a lot!), he stands there and looks stunned for a few seconds, then the waterworks are turned on as he registers the pain. He's the sort of child who will often shut off if something hurts him and will just curl up and go to sleep. He's extremely sensitive.