Published on 12, July, 2020
Daughter with ASD says she can not sing - not that she is bad at it, that when she tries no noise comes out. Unfortunately as part of her Drama A Level, she needs to be able to for the Audition component. For every other element she is on track to getting a Distinction - should we be asking for an exemption?
This sounds like a very specific form of selective mutism. There is no conscious selection, it is not under any voluntary control, it is just in certain situations there is an inability to produce a voice. As a child I had bouts of mutism at school, at school, but nowhere else I could not speak at all, sometimes for months at a time.
Your daughter's selective mutism when required to sing is a facet of her autism (I am presuming that she is both autistic and clinically diagnosed). As such it is covered by anti-disability discrimination legislation. You would be quite within your rights to seek a dispensation from the school and examination board.