My sister just went to my 4 yr old niece's school conference and they said she does not talk in school. In fact they said she has a blank stare most of the time, although she does corroperate with activities. At home she is very expressive and talkative. My sister wants to make a video since the school could not believe she could be so much different. My sister was also very shy and eventualy stop talking in grammer school too (at the time they called her just shy). They are looking into selective mutism. Has anyone heard of this or what we can do to help her?
J.,
Yes, my daughter was diagnosed with this earlier this year. Send me a PM with any questions you have.
Jen
Hi there-
I have never heard of this but when I googled it, this website came up. WOW! The first sentence on the website is almost verbatim of what you said is going on. Hope this helps!
You sister may want to consider home schooling as an option. There is a who network of parents who home school and I believe they do things at the YMCA in the gym specifically for home schooled children. She could gradually introduce her to group settings. Just curious, does she have any siblings?
I had a student in my class last year who had this. We used picure cards, such as, good morning, how are y9ou, etc. We also practiced adding one phrase a week for her to say out loud.
I think the video is a great idea because as a teacher, I would find it hard to believe to. If you google it, you will find plenty of info. Also, tell your sister to ask the school social worker for help. Goo dluck.
S.
In 14 years in the schools I had 3 children who were "selectively mute" at school...I'm an SLP, however, the issue isn't really one that the speech therapist is involved with, our school psychologists and the parents worked together with the teacher to try to figure out what was going on and to try to help the child.
It's difficult for the teacher as they have no way of knowing if the child is learning and they are at a loss as to how to evaluate the child.
All 3 of the children I knew had normal language skills at home (the parents provided the school with great samples of language for us to see). All 3 also began talking later, although it took some time and in all 3 it was related to anxiety and perfectionism (not wanting to make a mistake).
Although not common, most schools will probably have had a child who was selectively mute.
B.
This is so weird that you put this post on here. I had never heard of this until a few days ago when my sister told me about it. She's a teacher in Indiana and one of her students has this. Apparently the little girl is very loud and outgoing at home with her family, but she is "selectively mute" when she's at school or any other social situation. I'll ask her if she has any ideas for you.
