Selective Mutism Study

This article offers strategies for teachers to use to help their most challenging students with behavioral issues. One of the authors is a child psychiatrist who works with at-risk children and the other is a behavior analyst and special educator. Their approach is based on the premise that educators can only control certain elements in the classroom and their own behavior when it comes to students with challenging behavior. The created the acronym FAIR:”F is for understanding the function of the behavior, A is for accommodations, I is for interaction strategies, and R is for responses” (2). The function of behavior can include escaping from something, obtaining a tangible thing, engaging in sensory activities, and getting attention. These functions are the benefits the student gets from the behavior. The escape motivated behavior happens when a student tries to avoid a “task, demand, situation, or person” (3). The tangible behavior occurs when the student wants to get objects like money or feed or something else they want. Sensory behavior happens when a student tries to get the attention of an adult or classmate. This can occur when the student is “bellergent, screaming, or continually interrupting the teacher” (3). Negative attention can reinforce attention-seeking behavior because it is better than nothing and the student may prefer it because it is more predictable than positive attention. Taking ABC

Research is continually being conducted everyday with this common disorder. Many parents main concerns is the use of medication to treat their child. Many doctors nowadays show the parents the current research of studies being done and their effectiveness as well as providing papers for families for their willingness to participate in ongoing studies to better help understand their childs disorder and the best way to treat it ( Görtz-dorten, Breuer, Hautmann, Rothenberger, Döpfner, 2011).

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,

Assessment tools such as the Selective Mutism Questionnaire (SMQ) and the Social Anxiety Scale for Children-Revised, can be completed by caregivers to garner information on their child’s level of communication and anxiety (Busse & Downy, 2011). By completing the assessments, suggestions for treatment can take place. In addition to questionnaires, a functional analysis of SM generally involves interviews, behavioral observations and daily logs (Kearney & Vechhio, 2006). Looking at SM in a school setting, it can interfere with a child’s ability to interact with other students and have an active voice within the classroom. SM not only hinders a child’s social interaction and growth, but it delays the development of appropriate oral reading and

The processing takes place in various sensory systems (Horowitz and Röst,2007).” Many children who have ADHD and other disorders (Autism) benefit from sensory integration therapy. This therapy helps treat children who have problems processing sensory stimuli. SI therapy may not be enough for some children, in some cases, medication is needed for the child. According to the book medication and therapy combined can provide positive results. This book also touched on some history about SI therapy. The book then went into the problems children have in processing stimuli. There were examples throughout the book of different children with different sensory issues that cause their hyperactivity. They explained ways on how to deal with behaviors that are a result of stimuli problems. There was brief information about children being evaluated and then diagnosis. If a child was diagnosed, we can look at the different causes that may occurred why the child have SI problems. These causes

The cause of selective mutism differs on the case of the person. Selective mutism is hard to categorize because so many cases are different each having their own cause and effect. Many would say that the children with SM are stubborn and choosing not to speak. The reality of it is that these children really do want to have friends and to be active in the classroom but themselves won't let them. Their parents usually just think it’s shyness and sometimes punish the child for not talking or being social. The children can’t help it and it’s sad to think that not a lot of people know about this disorder because many children suffer with it. They

3. systems for Selective mutism, If so how can the systems be utilized? 4) Alloted time for training, 5) Once children are identified, what strategies do teachers use, if any? How do they measure or know that these strategies are working? Where or from whom do teachers learn these strategies (e.g., School Psychologists, Web)? 6) 5)What are the challenges that teachers face, both personally and professionally in terms of teaching a child with selective mutism (e.g., lack of

All the different therapies, attitudes, and the stigma of having a disorder placed upon me, helped as a student. I knew that I would get antsy if I had been sitting too long in class or that I had struggles with reading and mathematics. I began to realize that I could do anything I set my mind to if I tried hard enough, and that is what I did. I worked my way through math and reading eventually I brought my reading comprehension and math skills up to par and a little ways above. I decided that at the age of twelve I no longer wanted to be medicated for A.D.H.D because I could tell when I was having a very hyper active day, and would talk to my teachers about the issues and we’d solve the problem together.

6). Approval was obtained from the research ethics boards of the academic centers of Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal. The sample was recruited through specialized anxiety disorders clinics in three urban areas. Forty-four children with 32 SM girls and 12 SM boys, and 28 children with Axis I anxiety disorders. Also, included in the group 13 girls and 15 boys with Anxiety disorders, along with 17 with generalized anxiety disorder, 7 with social phobia, 4 with separation anxiety disorder, and 14 females and, 5 males diagnosed as normal made up the participants. To validate their data, the researchers used some test such as The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III (PPVT-III; Dunn and Dunn, 1997) is an extensively norm-based measure that estimates children's receptive vocabulary skills. The ADIS (Silverman and Albano, 1996) is a semistructured diagnostic interview focusing on childhood anxiety disorders in addition to The Selective Mutism Questionnaire (SMQ; Bergman et al., 2001) was also included. This is a specific parent- and teacher-report measure of mutism severity. Strengths of the study were it was the only study so far to examine the three factors of oral language, working memory and social, clinical impairment and intervention within the same sample. The weaknesses were The availability of questionnaires in English only eliminated a large segment of the SM population from this study. Also,

ADHD is most often treated with medications one to two times daily. ODD is treated starting with the parent taking parenting classes, interventions and medications. Autism is treated by therapy, medications, gluten free diets, and strict routines. With any adolescents, routines are important for development. For children with behavior disorders, it is imperative. Repetition keeps a child's mind focused and gives them something to look forward to, while preparing themselves for events they know are going to happen. If children's behavior continue to spike even with suggested treatments, additional attention from specialists may be needed. Children with disorders or children not getting the discipline they need, require the attention of the parents. Treatment first starts with parents recognizing that their child may have an issue. The first signs are teachers consulting parents about progressing behavior and then observing the child for themselves in situations where the child is unaware of the parent being

Its application to the treatment of mental problems is known as behaviour modification. Learning is seen as behaviour change moulded by experience; it is accomplished largely through either classical or operant conditioning.

Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, is characterized by various symptomology ranging from inappropriate social behavior due to inability to experience and express situation-appropriate affect and lack of interest in other persons in general to repetitive, stereotyped behavior like insistence on routine, situation-specific actions, or obsessive focus on object-placement or sensory aspects of objects. There have been several attempted strategies at correcting these characteristics of ASD over the years, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) which focuses on thought process correction and behavior alteration,

Some of the measures to consider in diagnosis is that, selective mutism can disrupt educational and

Despite it being such a diverse disorder, there are three main types of mutism--mutism caused by anxiety, mutism caused by brain trauma, and mutism caused by physical problems. There are many different ways for it to be caused and treated. Hopefully, in the years to come, this disorder and its sufferers will gain the recognition they deserve.

The purpose of this study was to focus only on the data collected from the behavior observations, and see if it was possible to determine the most effective treatment option, either stimulus fading or shaping, for children with selective mutism.