I OK

As I was getting ready this morning, Bambam came into my room and said, "I OK". This is a clear sign that something has happened. So I start to question him.

Me: What happened?

Bambam: It slippy

Me: Did you fall down?

Bambam: Yessss

Me: Did you get hurt?

Bambam: Yesssss

Me: Where did you get hurt?

Bambam: On da ground.

(I should be used to this literal kid by now. New question.)

Me: Where does your body hurt?

Bambam: My foot. Kiss it. 

So I did. And that was the end of it for Bambam. But not for me. 

Like many kids with an ASD, Bambam has sensory processing issues. He appears to be hyposensitive to pain and temperature. I've seen him hit his head on the corner of a cabinet, putting a small hole in his head with blood running down his face and he not even cry. It is not uncommon for him to have scapes and bruises and us have no idea how he got them. Once, after noticing that he was limping we looked at his foot to see his ankle swollen to double its normal size. Thankfully it was not broken. But this all freaks me out just a little. 

Clearly his body reacts to pain, he was limping and that's why we looked at his foot. But he doesn't express anything, or at least very little, about it. He rarely says "ow". He knows he got hurt, he came and told me "I OK". But he doesn't cry and he never complains about being in pain. Ever. Not even when he has 104 degree fever or is vomiting for the 4th time in an hour. Is this just because he doesn't know how to express the pain? Or does it really not register as pain? I don't know. Nor do I know if it matters. The fact is that I remain in fear that some day he will have a broken bone and we won't discover it for a week.