Finding Your Voice: Helping Children with Selective Mutism

Selective mutism is a childhood anxiety disorder characterised by a child''s inability to speak and communicate effectively in select social settings, such as school. These children are able to speak and communicate in settings where they are comfortable, secure, and relaxed. Most children with selective mutism also have social phobia or social anxiety: they fear social interactions where there is an expectation to speak and communicate. Many children with selective mutism have great difficulty responding or initiating communication in a nonverbal manner, especially when confronted by others or in an overwhelming setting where they sense a feeling of expectation. Finding Your Voice highlights the different challenges a child with selective mutism might face, and provides effective, research-based behavioral intervention plans. Tips for engaging and motivating children are provided, focusing on a gradual, stepwise approach to increased speech, as well as fun and engaging activities that can be used at each step of treatment. See more