selective mustism?

Question

How to help with a selective mutism child. React well at home but not a word in the class room.

Answer 1

According to the DSM-IV, selective mutism is an apparently rare disorder that affects fewer than 1% of individuals seen in mental health settings. The disorder is one that not much is said about. It used to be known as "elective mutism", and means the individual is able to speak, but does not. It is usually related to severe anxiety, shyness, and social anxiety, and is considered an anxiety disorder. It is very common that the child will speak to parents and a few other select individuals, but not speak in school.

Most children with selective mutism want to speak in all settings but fear and anxiety stop them. The longer the disorder goes without treatment, the harder it is to change the behavior. It is very unlikely that your child will get better as s/he gets older and is not likely to "grow out of it".

You need to seek help from someone who understands working with children and changing behavior using techniques such as desensitization and positive reinforcement. Punishment, bribes, and pressure will not work. Some medications have been found to help, but that must be in conjunction with the behavior therapy.

Talk to the special education teacher and counselor at your child's school. Find out if your school has a school psychologist, speech language pathologist, or social worker as they should have the skills to do the behavioral programming. The behavioral programming has to take place at school, since this is where the problem is.

Here are a couple of excellent sites to help you. Your child's teacher may be interested in some of the sites, especially the last one. Best of luck to you and your child.

Answer 2

This is a difficult situation...I had a student like that several years ago, in an ESL class.
What I did was,
1. the student could write their answer
2. the student had a "talking buddy". She would tell her buddy whatever she wanted to say, and the buddy would report it to the class.
I hope this works as well for you as it did for me.

Answer 3

I have selective mutism but its due to my severe social anxiety....