Experiencing Pain

Abstract

(from the chapter) For many years, it was believed incorrectly that newborns were incapable of experiencing or expressing pain. But, today, medical professionals are responding with strategies for managing discomfort in their youngest patients. Acute or chronic pain is a common experience in children and adults without disabilities. However, acute and chronic pain in children and adults with developmental disabilities has received very little scientific attention. There is good reason to believe that pain is much more a part of the daily lives of children with physical or developmental disabilities and neurological impairments than is the case for children without disabilities or impairments. Nevertheless, pain research has been limited in these populations, in large part as a result of the inherent difficulties associated with the assessment of pain in these individuals, as well as the widespread and pernicious belief that they do not experience pain. The development of pain in children with a genetic disorder and multisensory impairment occurs, as it does for all children, in a dynamic web of exchange. This chapter focuses on understanding pain in persons with CHARGE syndrome and provides a brief overview of the current knowledge regarding neurobiological and neuropsychological processes involved in pain transmission within a biopsychosocial model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)