Childhood Is Selective Mutism ( Sm )

Childhood anxiety is quickly becoming the most challenging of all childhood problems. As the root of most problems, anxiety covers a long range of stressors that spread quickly if not treated or relieved early in life. Anxious feelings in children varies from children of all backgrounds. All people feel anxious at one point or another, and it is only when children are affected daily and unable to be calmed when people should become concerned. Many times, children are feeling overwhelmed and cannot express themselves or struggle to understand his/her feelings. Social and emotional development then plays a big part when facing concerns like anxiety in a young childhood environment. Teachers and caregivers need to take a step back and focus on what the child needs rather than what he/she can do to make children calm down. Through interventions, patience, and caring teachers, a young child does not need to be known as "The Child Who is Anxious", he/she can just be a child.

Most children are diagnosed during the first years of schooling, when the child’s teacher is usually the first to bring concerns to the parents/caregivers and the school administration. Often it is not until children enter school and there is an expectation to perform, interact and speak, that selective mutism becomes more obvious. Moreover, when school starts, children also experience difficulties

The most common form of inherited mental retardation (MR) is Fragile X syndrome. The mutation of the gene completely turns off and does not produce the protein needed to make certain all other genes function properly. It is linked to other disorders. There are many characteristics connected to Fragile X. For example, neurological, physical, and psychiatric. The cognitive and behavioral attributes are more significant since they affect how the child will learn and function. Fragile X children are oversensitive to noise and the activity going on nearby. They will often throw tantrums and be aggressive (Braden, M., n.d.). Although, this syndrome does not have a cure these children may be helped with early intervention. Methods of

early enough then teachers, TAâ€TMs (teaching assistants) or Sencoâ€TMs can intervene. It could affect ear school life as a child may not be able to socialise or make friends for fear that they will be bullied or ostracised by other children. As a child grows older late diagnosis could affect their academic

This study was a quantitative study using and exploratory, descriptive design to explore the role of the school psychologists, their involvement, knowledge and training regarding the Selective Mutism child. The study’s purpose was to measure how much knowledge the school psychologists had regarding intervention used when an SM child was identified. The research questions developed (Ellis, 2015):

Most parents fail to recognize their child’s disorder until early kindergarten years and contribute the lack of speech prior to entering school as shyness or fear. The average age of onset for selective mutism occurs between three and five years (Beidel & Turner,

This disorder is important to me for two reasons: 1) my adopted granddaughter has Selective Mutism, and 2) there is very little awareness about the disorder and especially in education. Since this disorder is not well known and usually diagnosed incorrectly as shyness rather than an anxiety disorder by primary care physicians, this hampers this population from getting immediate treatment. Moreover, what is strange, at home, the child does not manifest this anxiety disorder and speaks in a normal fashion (Harwood, & Bork, 2011). To adequately support the Selective Mutism child, there is a need to provide classroom support, along with, teacher, parents, and school psychologist awareness. An intensive training program for all teaching staff and educational psychologist is needed to accomplish this. (Shipon-Blum,

However there is good news and that is that with the right help and the right amount of time and effort kids with selective mutism get better.

My proposed area of study for my dissertation is to look at and explore the phenomenon of Selective Mutism as it appears in children. I will specifically be examining the symptoms of this behavior utilizing a variety of cognitive and behavioral theories. Contemporary forms of treatment for SM will also be researched in my dissertation. Through the totality of my research I will be able to draw conclusions and report my findings to the psychological community. These findings will provide insight on how to detect, diagnose, and treat this rare, but serious condition.

In the classroom many different anxieties are present whether educators know it or see it. It is not something a child might share but their actions speak larger than words. There are three main anxieties that are present in the classroom,There are three main anxieties that are present in the classroom, these include separation anxiety: When children are scared to be alone .Social anxiety: When children are scared and nervous of specific areas and lastly,Selective mutism: When children have a hard time speaking in different settings ( typically in front of the classroom).Along with these various names and labels, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental

Unfortunately, the nonawareness of some teachers causes detrimental effects to the SM child due to the teacher’s pressuring the child to speak (Cohan, Chavira, & Stein, 2006). As Cline and Baldwin (2005) state interpretation of the persistent refusal of the SM child to speak is sometimes considered as rudeness or defiant or controlling and manipulative. Unfortunately, this results in some teachers becoming frustrated and showing a lack of sympathy towards the child. In addition, this leads them to view the anxious and mute behavior as controlling and manipulative (Baldwin & Cline, 1998; Imich, 1998). After two decades a lack of information and understanding of SM is still present among parents, school counselors and teachers. In fact, also among health care professionals who often misdiagnose SM as shy behavior that will eventually be outgrown” (Harwood & Bork, 2011, pg.138). Also, the lack of diagnostic tools used by clinicians to identify Selective Mutism hinders the gathering of valid information. Moreover, the longer a child remains untreated, the more crystallized behaviors associated with this disorder become, thus decreasing the efficacy of interventions (Krysanski, 2003). Pediatricians Schwartz and Shipon-Blum (2005) acknowledge that pediatric literature, which states that symptoms usually resolve after a few months and is misguided, erroneous information that results in many late

This can be even more problematic if it is not treated early on because then it can develop into social anxiety and/or avoidant personality disorder in the future. Selective mutism is a poorly understood childhood condition that affects approximately 1% of the population (Cohan et al., 2008). Helping to make the child see that it is okay to speak and that we want to hear what the client has to say is important. Starting by using non-verbals is an important bridge and the use of play therapy for these children is the key to building a relationship and rapport with them. As we learned in class play is the language for children so this is exactly how we can get them to express themselves, especially for younger children.

Consequently, this condition is shown through the child’s reluctance to speak in certain settings due to phobias of speaking and fear of people. It is usually not noticed

Selective mutism is a mental disorder that typically occurs in children or adolescents. This disorder is categorized by children being silent in some settings, mainly social situations, but are able to talk and are freely able to do so in some situations. Selective mutism is a diagnosis and is credited, but there has not been many studies on it. The term “electiver mutismus” was first used in 1877, and was used from then on by some people to discuss people who were extremely shy. In 1963, 4 cases out of 2000 children, were described as having elective mutism. The 4 children were of normal intelligence, had no psychosocial trauma, and seemed as if they would have a positive outcome in the next ten years. There are not many papers published on

Additional impairments have been noted. These include: anxiety, depression, short-term memory problems, and attention problems (Appleford School, 2008; Vasconcelos, 2009). As such, a variety of comorbid disorders have also been identified, such as ADHD, dyslexia, and Asperger’s syndrome. Due to the high prevalence of co-occurrence, some psychologists question