Selective mutism article: Silent and Misunderstood
Teachers.Net
Following is an excerpt from Eileen Dame's timely and helpful article
on selective mutism in the October issue of Teachers.Net Gazette:
Introverted. Anti-social. Withdrawn. Is there any teacher who has
not encountered such a child? Not the merely quiet and reserved
student, but the silent kid, the one who cannot make eye-contact, the
one who does not speak to more than one or two other children, if
that.
Max (not his real name) was sullen, somber, alone. He never smiled.
He rarely looked up. He spoke to no one, and no one spoke to him.
Socially awkward students in middle school are not uncommon, but Max’s
isolation was extreme. I was sure something was terribly wrong, and
made it my mission to help. He tolerated my efforts: he did not
avoid me, he listened patiently to my words of encouragement, my
offers to help. And yet, he never answered even the simplest
question. In fact, the more time we spent together, the more remote
he became. Head down, face blank, eyes averted, foot tapping. What
was wrong? He trusted me. Why couldn’t he talk to me?
Max could not talk to me, nor to anyone else, because he suffered from
Selective Mutism.
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