Following the success of the earlier autism and pain management event, the Autism Hub and ALAG have just ran an event which took a deeper look into the relationship of autism and pain.

Guest speaker Dr Sarah Vaughan from the School of Psychology, University of Chester presented on the research she is conducting on pain processing in psychiatric conditions. Dr Vaughan’s detailed and informative presentation covered personal accounts, parental observations, clinical anecdotes and current research on the topic.

To a busy session with 50 people in the audience, the presentation covered hypo- or hyper-reactivity; pain motivation and pain expectancy. There was an examination of pain expectancy, pain motivation and facial reaction when conveying pain experienced.

There were plenty of questions and a lively chat board. Tooth ache was a recurring theme – both identifying the exact source and the anxious anticipation of a visit to the dentist. Emotional pain and the interaction between autism, touch sensitivity and pain were discussed.

In an informative and detailed 90 minute event, several themes emerged:

• Pain management and understanding is better understood with an improved clinical- patient relationship;
• The way pain is measured, researched and reported could be broadened
• Emotional pain is just as valid as physical pain.

Nick Stone, Autism Hub peer support facilitator & ALAG member, 07 February 2024