2 year old doesn't feel pain

I have a neice who doesn't seem to feel pain.  She is now almost 2 and I have seen her run full force into tables, chairs and walls and she bareley even stops.  Will just rub the place that she hit and keep on going.  She has fallen off of chairs, off of the swing set and same reaction.  Her parents just say oh well she's tough.  She is covered with bruises because of all the times she hurts herself.  She is not cautious in any way.  She can fall off of something, get up and do it all over again.  Not just once or twice but 8 or 9 times.  I watched her run around the dining room table and everytime she would turn one corner she would run right into the china cabinet.  This happend 4 or 5 times untill her mother started warning her it was there.  After a few times of warning her, her mother stopped and she immediately ran into it again.  This doesn't sound normal at all to me and I think I'd have my kid looked at.  Does this sound familiar to anyone?  Is this a sydrome or a medical condition of any kind?

[leigh04]

i saw this on 20/20 or dateline or some such show about a yr ago. there was a little girl and it is some kind of med condition where they cant feel pain. also there was a little boy on extreme home makeover with this and they re-did the house with absolutely no sharp corners and things like that. its very dangerous bc there could be something seriously wrong and since they cant feel it than they cant alert you to it. i would definitely have her mother check this out. my daughter is strong too but not to that extreme. good luck

[ifsogirl]

I have mentioned it to both of her parents but they just brush it off.  They just figure she'll learn about pain at some point.  She's never been in a situation where she's been hurt badly, yet.  Her parents are not open to suggestion as most of us are.  She is normal in every other way, she just doesn't seem to notice getting hurt.