Published on 12, July, 2020
How does autism affect pain?
Chloe, my daughter, now 18!! hurt her right wrist during a meltdown in school 2 weeks ago. She has been in a lot of pain (but bear in mind, she has a high pain tolerance). It's probably the second time in seen her cry in pain. She took herself to hospital a week after (hospitals have traumatised her so for her to take herself to hospital shows how much pain she must of been in). They x-rayed it and said it's not broken or fractured.
They didn't say what was wrong but to wear a wrist support and a sling. She has diagnosed herself with a Grade 3 sprain, which I believe she has sprained it.
Paracetamol and ibuprofen did nothing for her so she is now on ibuprofen mixed codeine, which she says is helping a bit.
She is wearing the wrist support but the sling tends to stay round her neck, not supporting her wrist. People have signed her sling, hoping it encourages her to wear it.
But I hear that autistic people experience pain differently so I was hoping people could explain how it effects them?
Thanks
Lucy
We can also experience issues with describing our pain levels.
Some more info:
"Autistic people can therefore respond differently to pain. This means they may not be able to describe bodily sensations or be believed when they do. Clinical investigations need to take this into account.
Autistic people may not be able to provide an accurate assessment of the intensity of pain as a number using a traditional 1 to 10 pain score. They may see pain as a colour, or a picture. Being asked if the pain is a score of 10 – the worst they have experienced – may cause a significant delay in response. The pain may not be like anything they have experienced before. Responding literally could mean the pain is either over or under scored on the traditional scale. An autistic person may not even be able to pinpoint pain due to sensory overload from internal or external stimuli"
From: https://www.cqc.org.uk/how-you-see-me-matters-perspectives-autistic-people-using-primary-care-services/key-findings#:~:text=Autistic%20people%20may%20not%20be,a%20significant%20delay%20in%20response.
More info about sensory differences in general here:
https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/sensory-differences/sensory-differences/all-audiences