The holiday season is just around the corner and festivities will soon be occurring at school, with family, and within the community. While fun and exciting, these events can be particularly difficult for children with Selective Mutism, as they can disrupt the routine. Further, they result in additional exposure to unfamiliar people and environments. The article provides some recommendations for parents to prepare for the holiday season and set their child with SM up for success!
Read MoreWhen supporting children with Selective Mutism (SM), parents and educators play an integral role in treatment—from creating the right opportunities for bravery, responding to the child in times of anxiety, and providing encouragement to reach their goals. Just as every child’s voice is shaped not only by their personality and experiences but also by their familial and cultural background; so too are parents’ and educators’ interactions shaped by the same variables.
Read MoreWhen supporting children with Selective Mutism (SM), parents and educators play an integral role in treatment—from creating the right opportunities for bravery, responding to the child in times of anxiety, and providing encouragement to reach their goals. Just as every child’s voice is shaped not only by their personality and experiences but also by their familial and cultural background; so too are parents’ and educators’ interactions shaped by the same variables.
Read MoreWhen supporting children with Selective Mutism (SM), parents and educators play an integral role in treatment—from creating the right opportunities for bravery, responding to the child in times of anxiety, and providing encouragement to reach their goals. Just as every child’s voice is shaped not only by their personality and experiences but also by their familial and cultural background; so too are parents’ and educators’ interactions shaped by the same variables.
Read MoreWhen supporting children with Selective Mutism (SM), parents and educators play an integral role in treatment—from creating the right opportunities for bravery, responding to the child in times of anxiety, and providing encouragement to reach their goals. Just as every child’s voice is shaped not only by their personality and experiences but also by their familial and cultural background; so too are parents’ and educators’ interactions shaped by the same variables.
Read MoreWhen supporting children with Selective Mutism (SM), parents and educators play an integral role in treatment—from creating the right opportunities for bravery, responding to the child in times of anxiety, and providing encouragement to reach their goals. Just as every child’s voice is shaped not only by their personality and experiences but also by their familial and cultural background; so too are parents’ and educators’ interactions shaped by the same variables.
Read MoreWhen supporting children with Selective Mutism (SM), parents and educators play an integral role in treatment—from creating the right opportunities for bravery, responding to the child in times of anxiety, and providing encouragement to reach their goals. Just as every child’s voice is shaped not only by their personality and experiences but also by their familial and cultural background; so too are parents’ and educators’ interactions shaped by the same variables.
Read MoreTreatment for selective mutism is a multimodal, all-hands-on-deck experience, with significant input from clinicians, teachers, peers, family, community members, and — most importantly — parents. Given parents’ critical role in fostering bravery and promoting speech across environments, it is helpful to consider what support parents may require in order for them, in turn, to best support their children. A recent international study did just that, identifying five broad categories of common issues faced and four broad categories of support needs identified by 70 parents of children with SM (Yamanaka et al., 2024). This article reviews those findings, discussing how parent support networks can contribute to addressing those issues and meeting those needs.
Read MoreA diagnosis of selective mutism can provide a lot of clarity for children and their parents, explaining why it is difficult for kids to speak in certain environments and how the cycle of anxiety and accommodation can cause symptoms to worsen. However, once it’s clear that the speech avoidance is not due to an extreme case of shyness or stubbornness, you may wonder what to do next. This article explains how to create an exposure ladder in order to support your child in taking incremental steps toward finding their brave voice.
Read MoreImmediate family members are usually the most comfortable speaking partners for children with selective mutism. In fact, many parents of kids with SM describe their children as outgoing, talkative, friendly, and even loud when they are at home. This makes it that much more difficult to watch these kids struggle to interact with extended family, friends, and community members. Often, family members will try to bridge the gap for their loved one in order to facilitate communication with other people. This article will discuss common behaviors and identify helpful practices for family members to employ to promote brave speech long term.
Read MoreIf a child is receiving recurring therapy for selective mutism, that therapy likely only occurs for 1 hour per week, which pales in comparison to the 30-35 hours they spend at school with teachers and staff. However, teachers are tasked with attending to the demands of entire classes of up to 25-30 students, so it can be difficult to figure out how to address the needs of one kid — especially if that kid completes their work and poses no disruption to general instruction. At the same time, we know that selective mutism can have negative impacts on educational, behavioral, social and emotional functioning, so it is important for teachers and staff to have the tools to support those students in school. This article provides helpful steps for incorporating the most commonly used behavioral intervention found in SM treatment studies — contingency management systems — into the school setting.
Read MoreThere are several modalities of treatment available to support kids with selective mutism in finding their brave voice and thriving at home, in school, and in their communities. Among these, intensives have emerged as an excellent way to help kids make big gains in a short period of time, which is valuable at any stage of their journey. This article provides parents with an overview of recent empirical research published about intensive group behavioral treatment (IGBT) in the form of summer camps for selective mutism, as well as insight into the camps offered by Thriving Minds.
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