When we assess children with selective mutism first we need to decide whether their symptoms fit with a diagnosis:
- the child has a consistent pattern of speaking and non speaking with certain people under certain conditions
- even when it is clearly in the child’s interest to speak they don’t
- the child has described, in absence of stammering, a sensation of freezing or the voice getting stuck or not coming out
- Although SM can exist alongside other diagnoses the child mutism cannot be better explained by one of the following
- speech and language difficulties
- social communication difficulties
- hearing loss
- developmental delays
- learning difficulties
- cultural influences or
- psychiatric conditions
In other word even if the quality of the child speech or language is affected by other diagnoses there is still a consistent pattern of speaking to some people but not others
Keep tuned as we’re going to be talking about next whether it is a low or high profile selective mutism.
(Abstract taken from Johnson, M. and Wintgens, A. (2016) The Selective Mutism Resource Manual (2nd Edition). Routledge: Taylor and Francis Group, London and New York)
Anna Biavati-Smith
Specialist Speech and language Therapist
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