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Selective Mutism

Kate Kestrel

Does anyone on here have Selective Mutism? My son has struggled with Selective Mutism (in educational settings) for about 16 years and it’s just struck me that we’ve never had a conversation with another person who has Selective Mutism. I’m new(ish) to this community so I just thought I’d ask if anyone else has gone through their whole education with Selective Mutism. And also if you have managed to overcome it - how did you do that? 
We’re basically just interested in hearing about other people’s experience of this. Thanks Sunflower

Parents

  • I lose verbal communication in shutdown. There's not much you can do about that until the person emerges from it.

    Also, when they took some of my teeth I couldn't talk for a couple of weeks - it was the sensory shock, not shut down then.  I had to really force myself to speak again.  I think only my will to go back to my Italian class pushed me through that.  It was horrible.  I guess, I'm saying, although it can be shut down, it can also be context/sensory dependent. 

    If you can get to the bottom of why he isn't speaking, you might be able to alleviate the factors which are causing it.  Clearly, something about school - the social? The environment?  Is he always silent in school or only sometimes?  Is something sending him into shutdown? Or is it about the context?

Reply

  • I lose verbal communication in shutdown. There's not much you can do about that until the person emerges from it.

    Also, when they took some of my teeth I couldn't talk for a couple of weeks - it was the sensory shock, not shut down then.  I had to really force myself to speak again.  I think only my will to go back to my Italian class pushed me through that.  It was horrible.  I guess, I'm saying, although it can be shut down, it can also be context/sensory dependent. 

    If you can get to the bottom of why he isn't speaking, you might be able to alleviate the factors which are causing it.  Clearly, something about school - the social? The environment?  Is he always silent in school or only sometimes?  Is something sending him into shutdown? Or is it about the context?

Children
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