Meet the Child Who Feels No Pain

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At age 5, Isaac Brown is learning the alphabet and simple addition. He's also figuring out another vital subject: pain.

Isaac was born with a congenital insensitivity to pain, a disorder that means he almost never feels pain, even if he breaks a bone.

Because he doesn't feel injuries, Isaac's parents, Carrie and Randy Brown, are teaching him how to identify them to stay healthy.
"The toddler years were an absolute nightmare," said Isaac's mother, Carrie Brown. "He would just drop to the ground and smack his face on the table. He thought the fall was fun."

Isaac has dunked his hand in hot coffee without flinching. He once placed his palm on a working oven burner without shedding a tear.
After breaking a cup one time, Isaac banged on his mother's door to get her attention with the broken glass. When Brown opened the door, she found Isaac grasping the sharp edge of the glass. He didn't understand that the broken glass was damaging his hand with each strike.

Although Brown and her husband sought medical help, there is little doctors can do to treat Isaac's condition. After taking Isaac to a specialist, Brown said initially she was told to watch him carefully and bring him in if he appears to be injured.

Looking for relief, the Browns searched the Internet for "children who can't feel pain" and found a Facebook group called The Gift of Pain, where parents talked about their children who had the same disorder as Isaac.
While Isaac's doctors didn't have a lot of day-to-day advice for Brown, the parents in the Facebook group had more detailed instructions about ways to care for Isaac.

"We got a ton of ideas of people who have gone through it," said Brown. "And let me tell you, they have been a gift to us."
One crucial idea was developing ways to "teach" Isaac to recognize pain and possible injuries.

"We're doing the best we can to just teach him; he knows blood is bad," said Brown. "We taught him even when he was little to say 'ow.' You don't have to tell normal kids to say 'ow.'"
Randy Brown accidently stepped on his son's foot once when Isaac was hiding. The boy started giggling, thinking it was a joke because it didn't hurt.
Randy Brown then sat down with him and explained carefully that what happened was bad and that it was an "owie." He also explained that Isaac should always tell a parent if he gets stepped on.

 Isaac Brown didn't initially realize he broke his pelvis after a fall.

Read more: Good Morning America