Selective mutism

[happyfeet2013]

New start child last week boy aged 3

He started last Monday
On meeting him the days of initial meeting mum said he was a selective mute

Has anyone much experience with this ? I haven't

Child arrives at my house withdrawn but comes around in 5 mins firstly by playing on own then with others

He talks more and more as day goes on

On collection he doesn't want to leave
His mum works a lot of long hours has very little time with him
Dad not with mum anymore sees him when he wants / feels like it
Mums partner collect him and tonight he refused to go home was very anxious and upset

I don't want to jump to conclusions. But something ain't right

What should I do
I'm keeping a daily account of things

[Simona]

New start child last week boy aged 3

He started last Monday
On meeting him the days of initial meeting mum said he was a selective mute

Has anyone much experience with this ? I haven't

Child arrives at my house withdrawn but comes around in 5 mins firstly by playing on own then with others

He talks more and more as day goes on

On collection he doesn't want to leave
His mum works a lot of long hours has very little time with him
Dad not with mum anymore sees him when he wants / feels like it
Mums partner collect him and tonight he refused to go home was very anxious and upset

I don't want to jump to conclusions. But something ain't right

What should I do
I'm keeping a daily account of things

If you read about selective mutism here ...it will inform you on any observations you are making on his social interaction

Selective mutism - NHS Choices

[gef918]

I looked after a child with selective mutism. When she started at 19m, she didn't make a sound - no babbling, laughing, etc. It took about 8 weeks for her to say a single word even though she was with me 4 days a week. She wouldn't look at me or interact in anyway initially, but eventually she would make eye contact. However, when I put her in the cot for a nap and went downstairs, I would hear her babbling and singing to herself. Over time she became much more talkative - in fact, a real chatterbox, as long as there were no unfamiliar adults around.

When she started pre-school, she stopped talking for a month except around immediate family. It took her six months to start saying single words at pre-school.

She has now started school. No talking yet

If the child you are looking after is already talking after just a week, I wouldn't worry too much about selective mutism. But do some research and keep parents informed of his social interaction with other children, yourself and other adults.

[Simona]

it is rare for children to have selected mutism at that young age but of course children are different and circumstances are different...that is why it is best to research.... observe and record and, of course, approach other professionals who can advice us properly and the parents as well.

Also a bit of caution when labelling children....I always feel we seem to find a name for everything when it comes to children not performing as expected...sorry I feel very strongly about labels.

[Greengrass74]

Certainly keep an eye on him, however it may just be the fact that after just a week he is loving all the newness of your setting and that is why he doesn't want to leave and also why he may still be a bit quiet. If he is talking more and more as the day goes on then it sounds like he is getting more confident, it does sometime take little ones a while to settle.

I do think you are right just to keep on eye on things in case things change, hope it all works out.

[Mummits]

I went on a training course on this. One of the points stressed was that children with the condition often had high anxiety levels and did not cope well with change, so all the tips and tricks often given to help anxious children settle (fixed routines, visual timetables, comfort items from home, photo albums etc) can help. They also stressed that any communication was better than none, so if the child prefers to sign, use cards or charts to point at, or write it down if older, that it is better to let them communicate as they wish than to "hold out" for spoken words which they do not feel able to use.

I was concerned about my own youngest as his teacher reported only in the third term she had him that he had NEVER spoken to her, that he became silent whenever she approached him, even when she knew he spoke to other teachers and children, and that in her opinion he had some sort of speech and language problem. I was quite angry that she had taken so long to mention it (maybe she had some sort of speech and language problem!) and that she immediately thought it was his issue and had apparently made no effort to think about the possible causes. As it turned out he said he didn't speak to her because he didn't like her. He said he would try to speak to her (but never did - I think the habit of going silent was too well established by then) but has been fine with his new teacher this year. The point of this ramble was to add that I think it is an issue that needs to be addressed promptly, as it gets harder and harder for a quiet child to break the habit if it becomes the norm.