Perception of things and events

[Neia]

When I was 2 I cut my knee and ran to my mom crying, but not because of the pain, because my lovely white socks were covered in blood. I felt the pain but didn't care much about it.

When I was 6 i was doing crochet and someone bumped into me, the crochet hook kinda got pushed into my palm, between flesh and skin. it was rather curious to look at it like that, but it was painful as well, so i just wiggled the crochet hook out.

Later on, much later, I was walking around the garden in my flip-flops and stepped on something that made my foot hurt. As I looked down and lifted the aggravated foot, I saw a drop of blood on my other foot. I looked at the spot that hurt and thought : Oh look, there's a screw stuck on my foot. How do I take that out?

I've gone through countless situations similar to those in my life.
The only times I acted according to the seriousness of the situation was when I drenched my leg in boiling water (I screamed like crazy) and other events that involve hot water or hot things.
otherwise I'll just stare at it and calmly think of the best way to resolve the matter at hand.

Is this part of how people on the spectrum normally react to similar situations?

I'm sorry for asking so many questions. But it's the first time in my life I feel like I can ask them and get an honest answer, not a blank stare as people wonder why I'm so weird.

 

[Outdated]

I'm very much the same. In another thread @Boogs mentioned critical thinking taking second place to the flight or fight instinct, but quite often it doesn't work that way for me and instead I become very analytical.

I've had a lot of injuries over the years and the very first thing my brain does is assess how much pain is the body's normal warning process and how much is actual damage. I feel pain alright, I have a very accute sense of touch, but pain doesn't send me in to panic like it does with most people. I can live with it when I have to.

 

[jsilver256]

Yup, you got it, you win the prize for the fastest autistic speedrun I've seen

 

[Neia]

I'm very much the same. In another thread @Boogs mentioned critical thinking taking second place to the flight or fight instinct, but quite often it doesn't work that way for me and instead I become very analytical.

I've had a lot of injuries over the years and the very first thing my brain does is assess how much pain is the body's normal warning process and how much is actual damage. I feel pain alright, I have a very accute sense of touch, but pain doesn't send me in to panic like it does with most people. I can live with it when I have to.

Exactly!!!

If the pain isn't totally overwhelming, i just spend some time analysing the situation. trying to figure out the best way to solve the problem.
Not always the best thing to do when there are other people around.

 

[Neia]

Yup, you got it, you win the prize for the fastest autistic speedrun I've seen

I might be obsessed with learning more

 

[Outdated]

Not always the best thing to do when there are other people around.

https://www.autismforums.com/threads/miscommunication.41225/

 

[Stuttermabolur]

When I was 2 I cut my knee and ran to my mom crying, but not because of the pain, because my lovely white socks were covered in blood. I felt the pain but didn't care much about it.

When I was 6 i was doing crochet and someone bumped into me, the crochet hook kinda got pushed into my palm, between flesh and skin. it was rather curious to look at it like that, but it was painful as well, so i just wiggled the crochet hook out.

Later on, much later, I was walking around the garden in my flip-flops and stepped on something that made my foot hurt. As I looked down and lifted the aggravated foot, I saw a drop of blood on my other foot. I looked at the spot that hurt and thought : Oh look, there's a screw stuck on my foot. How do I take that out?

I've gone through countless situations similar to those in my life.
The only times I acted according to the seriousness of the situation was when I drenched my leg in boiling water (I screamed like crazy) and other events that involve hot water or hot things.
otherwise I'll just stare at it and calmly think of the best way to resolve the matter at hand.

Is this part of how people on the spectrum normally react to similar situations?

I'm sorry for asking so many questions. But it's the first time in my life I feel like I can ask them and get an honest answer, not a blank stare as people wonder why I'm so weird.

I'm very much the opposite. I'm very pain sensitive and try to avoid it to the furthest extent of my abilities.

As with a lot of things, I think autistic people tend to be on two extremes when it comes to pain perception. Your experience is very common on the forums, but I also feel like I'm worse at handling pain than most people. However, I'm very good at handling discomfort (smells don't phase me, etc.) while that's something a lot of autistic people struggle with.

 

[Jumpinbare]

When I was 2 I cut my knee and ran to my mom crying, but not because of the pain, because my lovely white socks were covered in blood. I felt the pain but didn't care much about it.

When I was 6 i was doing crochet and someone bumped into me, the crochet hook kinda got pushed into my palm, between flesh and skin. it was rather curious to look at it like that, but it was painful as well, so i just wiggled the crochet hook out.

Later on, much later, I was walking around the garden in my flip-flops and stepped on something that made my foot hurt. As I looked down and lifted the aggravated foot, I saw a drop of blood on my other foot. I looked at the spot that hurt and thought : Oh look, there's a screw stuck on my foot. How do I take that out?

I've gone through countless situations similar to those in my life.
The only times I acted according to the seriousness of the situation was when I drenched my leg in boiling water (I screamed like crazy) and other events that involve hot water or hot things.
otherwise I'll just stare at it and calmly think of the best way to resolve the matter at hand.

Is this part of how people on the spectrum normally react to similar situations?

I'm sorry for asking so many questions. But it's the first time in my life I feel like I can ask them and get an honest answer, not a blank stare as people wonder why I'm so weird.

In my teens, I was showing a friend how to securely tie a hook onto a fishing line. He got distracted with something and pulled on the line when I was handing him the hook. His sudden pull lodged the barbed hook under the skin of my palm. When he saw it, he started freaking out and talked about calling an ambulance. I sat and calmly looked at the embedded hook. It was under the outer dead layer of skin in my palm. There was no bleeding. I had a very sharp pocket knife, so I began slicing the skin above the hook to free it. The friend became even more agitated that I "was doing surgery" on myself with no anesthetic. I just focused on the task, and soon had the hook out with no blood spilt. I considered it no big deal.

 

[jsilver256]

I'm very much the opposite. I'm very pain sensitive and try to avoid it to the furthest extent of my abilities.

As with a lot of things, I think autistic people tend to be on two extremes when it comes to pain perception. Your experience is very common on the forums, but I also feel like I'm worse at handling pain than most people. However, I'm very good at handling discomfort (smells don't phase me, etc.) while that's something a lot of autistic people struggle with.

Yes, this is important to note. I have seen my ASD son scream his head off and claim pain at the slightest touch (usually when it comes as a surprise) but then get actually-hurt and not seem to feel it.

 

[Neia]

Yes, this is important to note. I have seen my ASD son scream his head off and claim pain at the slightest touch (usually when it comes as a surprise) but then get actually-hurt and not seem to feel it.

Yep!

I suffer more with things at skin level (too hot, or just hot things are something I can't stand) and I'll gasp and jump and complain about it, but I can cut myself on a broken drinking glass and be like "I wonder if I have any disinfectant. Oh darn... there's blood dripping all over the floor."

 

[Tired]

I was beaten as a kid and teenager, so I'm used to feeling physical pain. I was also a sick kid, so I got used to having needles in me as well. And I'm not afraid of blood, just with cold mind accessing the damage and thinking how to stop bleeding. The pain doesn't make me sad or makes me panic, but makes me angry instead. I try to push anger away and think straight about the situation.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

When I was 2 I cut my knee and ran to my mom crying, but not because of the pain, because my lovely white socks were covered in blood. I felt the pain but didn't care much about it.

When I was 6 i was doing crochet and someone bumped into me, the crochet hook kinda got pushed into my palm, between flesh and skin. it was rather curious to look at it like that, but it was painful as well, so i just wiggled the crochet hook out.

Later on, much later, I was walking around the garden in my flip-flops and stepped on something that made my foot hurt. As I looked down and lifted the aggravated foot, I saw a drop of blood on my other foot. I looked at the spot that hurt and thought : Oh look, there's a screw stuck on my foot. How do I take that out?

I've gone through countless situations similar to those in my life.
The only times I acted according to the seriousness of the situation was when I drenched my leg in boiling water (I screamed like crazy) and other events that involve hot water or hot things.
otherwise I'll just stare at it and calmly think of the best way to resolve the matter at hand.

Is this part of how people on the spectrum normally react to similar situations?

I'm sorry for asking so many questions. But it's the first time in my life I feel like I can ask them and get an honest answer, not a blank stare as people wonder why I'm so weird.

If you do a general Google search for "Pain responses in autism" you will find several articles on the topic. However, a quick review of these articles suggest that (1) statistically speaking, autistics may experience pain more intensely from a sensory perspective, however, paradoxically (2) are more likely to have a "dampened" verbal response. So, in other words, the pain is there, but the response might not match.

I don't know that this has been my experience though. Personally, I don't believe that I experience pain more intensely, in fact, quite the opposite. Perhaps, I have an enhanced ability to push it aside and not let it bother me. Perhaps, I was so used to being in pain, for decades, that I created a new threshold for what I perceived as pain.

Personally, I have had countless athletic injuries. Track, football, weightlifting. 11 US national records in powerlifting, not because of superior genetics, but a refusal to let pain stop me. When other people would stop, I would push through with shear will. Too many torn muscles and snapped tendons over the many years. For the most part, I never experienced the pain that perhaps I should have. I hear the "snap" or the "shredding" of my muscle, and feel the initial "sting" the injury, look down, the limb is no longer moving, and I just walk away, grab some ice, wrap it up, and wait for it to heal over the weeks and months. I was far more concerned that my forward progress was halted and now I had to have surgery and/or rehab. These were literally first thoughts. Generally, angry at the situation that I injured myself, but any resultant pain was not really being registered.

 

[Misty Avich]

I feel pain so intensely that I have never got pregnant because I can imagine too well how bad the pain of giving birth is and I know the pain would overwhelm me so badly.

I felt all my covid jabs, while most people I know said they didn't feel the needle going in at all.

 

[Mary Terry]

I tend to freak out if I am the injured bleeding one. If it is someone else who is hurt, I'm cool, calm and collected and analyze the situation to determine the extent of their injuries. The sight of my blood distresses me. Other people's blood, not so much.

 

[UFO]

@Neonatal RRT I think that feeling pain is situational for both NTs and NDs: A person might be so focused on something else, or might be so high on adrenaline, endorphin, or something, that his/hers perception of pain is different. It is like being vaccinated: if you stare at needle, fear it, and expect it to hurt, you react to the slightest sign of pain strongly. If you are having nice conversation and are not paying attention, you might not even notice the sting. Sudden damage often goes unnoticed because of these things, or because of initial shock, thus pain is felt only afterwards. I have noticed that sometimes the healing process from a sports wound is more painful than getting the wound.

I personally have only two experiences about my pain threshold that I find uncommon:

One beer (33 cl a half liter [edit: I remembered wrong, I was in a pub and then I burned myself, it wasn't single beer bottle I had emptied, it a was big glass] and 4%-5% alcohol volume) and I can burn my hand with a hot oven to a second degree without noticing it. Such thing has happened twice. Without that beer, I scream like hell with any kind of burn wounds (happened many times).

Years ago I was briefly interested of martial arts. Some grips and locks were supposed to be painful. Once, when we were sparring, the instructor came over, checked the grip of my training partner and ordered him to release me very carefully. Then he checked my hand and arm, and asked if I felt anything. I said that there was just a slight pressure. He said, that I should not wait for the pain before slapping the tatami, because obviously I won't feel anything until something actually breaks. That time nothing was broken, but he got really worried.

@Neia Your experience pretty much describes my attitude towards hurting myself. I have once fell over so badly that my teeth almost went thru my lip. It didn't hurt much. A lot of blood was involved. I just went to bathroom, assessed the damage, disinfected the wound (this part hurt like hell), put some medical sticky tape to keep wound closed, and I was only one in the apartment who wasn't panicking or even shocked.

 

[Neia]

@Neonatal RRT I think that feeling pain is situational for both NTs and NDs: A person might be so focused on something else, or might be so high on adrenaline, endorphin, or something, that his/hers perception of pain is different. It is like being vaccinated: if you stare at needle, fear it, and expect it to hurt, you react to the slightest sign of pain strongly. If you are having nice conversation and are not paying attention, you might not even notice the sting. Sudden damage often goes unnoticed because of these things, or because of initial shock, thus pain is felt only afterwards. I have noticed that sometimes the healing process from a sports wound is more painful than getting the wound.

I personally have only two experiences about my pain threshold that I find uncommon:

One beer (33 cl and 4%-5% alcohol volume) and I can burn my hand with a hot oven to a second degree without noticing it. Such thing has happened twice. Without that beer, I scream like hell with any kind of burn wounds (happened many times).

Years ago I was briefly interested of martial arts. Some grips and locks were supposed to be painful. Once, when we were sparring, the instructor came over, checked the grip of my training partner and ordered him to release me very carefully. Then he checked my hand and arm, and asked if I felt anything. I said that there was just a slight pressure. He said, that I should not wait for the pain before slapping the tatami, because obviously I won't feel anything until something actually breaks. That time nothing was broken, but he got really worried.

@Neia Your experience pretty much describes my attitude towards hurting myself. I have once fell over so badly that my teeth almost went thru my lip. It didn't hurt much. A lot of blood was involved. I just went to bathroom, assessed the damage, disinfected the wound (this part hurt like hell), put some tape to keep wound closed, and I was only one in the apartment who wasn't panicking or even shocked.

Nobody sticks a needle into me without me attentively watching what they're doing. Not unless the needle is behind me... then i'll wince as soon as I feel it.

Until I was about 12 I firmly believed the story my mother had told me as a child so I wouldn't freak out if I had to take a shot I thought that all kids get injections without needles

Only at 12 did I start thinking about the logistics of the whole thing

 

[UFO]

According to my mother, I used to consider vaccination as a form of torture until I suddenly got injected by surprise and realized that it don't have to come with me screaming and panicing from an imaginary pain

These are so old things that I don't remember them myself. But I believe my mother on that. So I don't know if I really felt pain or was just afraid of it. But I do feel a sting when injecting, and don't understand how anyone can consider that painful... (I also took my dentist visits to drill ordinary surface holes without anesthesia for decades before coming to my senses).

 

[Boogs]

I find my sodium channels very sensitive, and most acute pain is excruciating, but sensations like hunger, discomfort, and other feedbacks are very muted to the point of being unhealthy ("Hmmm, it's 1:45am, have I eaten today? Can't remember? Aw, tomorrow will do."). It would be lovely to be able to swap that round!

I think pain is a difficult subject because there are many types, that come through different nerve channels, and effect didn't parts of the brain. My mum could stand the dentists drill (this is 50 years ago when they weren't so well constructed and designed) and she thought that was not too bad, so she insisted I have no jab (she thought the dentist would be more careful).
I'd just be squirming uncontrollably away from the drill and end up standing in the chair, or sliding towards the floor (depending on upper or lower mandible). After a few visit both she and the dentist gave up trying.

 

[UFO]

and other feedbacks are very muted to the point of being unhealthy ("Hmmm, it's 1:45am, have I eaten today? Can't remember? Aw, tomorrow will do.").

Same here. I usually recognize that I am hungry only when I start to eat and notice that the food tastes unusually good and I want to eat it a lot more than usually. I might feel something in my stomach that I could interpret as a hunger - but then I fart and it is gone...

Usually I just eat in regular intervals for a habit, because if I just wait for an actual hungry feeling, I get only secondary warning signs like getting dizzy and angry.

But I do think that I have also felt genuine hunger, but those are very, very rare situations.

 

[Neia]

Same here. I usually recognize that I am hungry only when I start to eat and notice that the food tastes unusually good and I want to eat it a lot more than usually. I might feel something in my stomach that I could interpret as a hunger - but then I fart and it is gone...

Usually I just eat in regular intervals for a habit, because if I just wait for an actual hungry feeling, I get only secondary warning signs like getting dizzy and angry.

But I do think that I have also felt genuine hunger, but those are very, very rare situations.

Too many times I only realise I haven't eaten or drank anything all day when I start feeling sick and get a humongous headache.

One kind of pain I react to because it stops me from being able to reason. The headache!

I have migraines often. Have suffered with them since childhood. And any little headache can turn into a nausea inducing migraine.

So, many times, I only notice I haven't eaten because of a headache