I had a lot of questions when I heard about Selective Mutism, but after doing this blog and doing research I have learned a lot. I wanted to ask people what questions they may have about Selective Mutism and see if I was able to answer them after completing the blog.
Some questions that were asked were...
What is it?
What age does it appear at?
What are the symptoms?
Does it go away?
Is it hereditary?
Does it affect the child if family is around?
These were very similiar questions to ones that I had when I started blogging and I was happy to see that I could answer all of them and realized what I have learned from this blog. If I had to answer these questions I would say...
Selective Mutism is a social anxiety disorder where children are able to speak freely around their family and friends, but when in a public situation they are unable to speak and literally freeze up sometimes even their emotions.
Symptoms usually present themselves when children start to being school such as preschool and kindergarten.
Some of the symptoms may be not talking, being shy in public situations, not be able to show emotion, and the fear of talking.
If it is diagnosed and the child recieves treatment progress will be shown. There have been studies that children who do not get treatment may make bad decisions later in life to relieve their anxiety.
There are a large number of children who have SM, that another family member also has a type of social anxiety.
The last question I was a little unsure about. I know that the child feels more comfortable and is able to speak around their family, but I wasn't sure if they are in a public place and family is still around if they present symptoms. I do know that they usually freeze up in many situations so my answer to this would be that if in any public situation the child usually will struggle to speak and show emotion.
I was really happy to see that I was able to answer these questions with confidence after doing all the research.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Conference
Luckily I have had the chance to be a part of an IEP meeting involving a child who is Selectively Mute. In my student teaching experience there was a child in the class who had SM and I got to sit in on the meeting with the parents. Since I was the student teacher I wasn't participating in the meeting and there may have been a few things I would have done differently, but I think I would have done it very similar.
In an IEP meeting I think it is important to go in stating the positive things you are seeing with a child. So I would first start out by going over the growth I have seen in their child and what has been going well.
Then I would ask the parents if they have seen any of this going on at home or if they have any questions or concerns they would like to bring up and go over throughout the meeting. I would explain some strategies that we are in working on in the classroom. Such as using yes and no cards for the student to hold up if they don't feel comfortable talking. I would also talk about how the child has the opportunity to share in the classroom whenever he/she is comfortable, but is never forced to speak out. I would want to know what techniques they are using outside of school. I might suggest some that I have found throughout my blog, which are having the child order at dinner, handing money to a clerk and taking small steps to communicate in public. I also think trying to keep anecdotal notes or some type of record of how the child is doing. Maybe once a week observe the child or have another teacher or specialist come in to see how the child is doing and what types of communication is being used. If there are notes to look back at we can use what is working and move forward and maybe try new strategies to replace what isn't. At the end of any meeting I would want to re-bring up if the parent has any questions or concerns or if they have any of their own ideas. I have learned that parents know their children best and working positively with the family is the main goal in helping the child.
In an IEP meeting I think it is important to go in stating the positive things you are seeing with a child. So I would first start out by going over the growth I have seen in their child and what has been going well.
Then I would ask the parents if they have seen any of this going on at home or if they have any questions or concerns they would like to bring up and go over throughout the meeting. I would explain some strategies that we are in working on in the classroom. Such as using yes and no cards for the student to hold up if they don't feel comfortable talking. I would also talk about how the child has the opportunity to share in the classroom whenever he/she is comfortable, but is never forced to speak out. I would want to know what techniques they are using outside of school. I might suggest some that I have found throughout my blog, which are having the child order at dinner, handing money to a clerk and taking small steps to communicate in public. I also think trying to keep anecdotal notes or some type of record of how the child is doing. Maybe once a week observe the child or have another teacher or specialist come in to see how the child is doing and what types of communication is being used. If there are notes to look back at we can use what is working and move forward and maybe try new strategies to replace what isn't. At the end of any meeting I would want to re-bring up if the parent has any questions or concerns or if they have any of their own ideas. I have learned that parents know their children best and working positively with the family is the main goal in helping the child.
Monday, May 21, 2012
More Questions...
Through out this blog I know I am suppose to be going through and answering my own questions, and I am sure I have plenty more, but I feel like I am running out of ideas. I have learned a lot about what Selective Mutism is, how it is treated, and how it effects families. I thought a good idea might be to ask what questions other people had. If you can post your questions on here that would be great and I also plan on asking people outside of the class what questions they have and try to get some answers!
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Why Abby Won't Talk
When thinking about my blog I wanted to find something that wasn't just another website with information, so I researched some articles. I came across a TIME article called 'Why Abby Won't Talk'. I was overwhelmed with information after reading this. It is about a young girl with SM, but also gives great information. A lot of the stuff I read was stuff I had heard before, but this article gave even more information. They even discussed Dr. Shipon - Blum whose website I have visited many times and been referred to more than once. The link to the article is... http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1154189-1,00.html.
The article began by talking about how Abby's personality and it seemed very similiar to what I had read. Many children at home are completely find and sometimes too noisy, but at school freeze up and can't speak at all. An interesting fact I also read was the 70% of children with SM have an immediate family member who also struggles with a social anxiety. The article talks about how these children are ignored because unlike children ADHD they are quiet and forgotten. Which is changing now thanks to Dr. Shipon - Blum who has a treatment center that has a waiting list of nearly two years. Some of her forms of treatment included using sign language and having children use yes and no cards in school. Not only that, but instead of the parents speaking for the children out in public have your child point to the menu or hand the money to the cashier. I thought these were really interesting ideas, but made a lot of sense!
I thought this article was great, and I liked coming across information I had seen before and a doctor that I had done research on. What are you thoughts on this article?
The article began by talking about how Abby's personality and it seemed very similiar to what I had read. Many children at home are completely find and sometimes too noisy, but at school freeze up and can't speak at all. An interesting fact I also read was the 70% of children with SM have an immediate family member who also struggles with a social anxiety. The article talks about how these children are ignored because unlike children ADHD they are quiet and forgotten. Which is changing now thanks to Dr. Shipon - Blum who has a treatment center that has a waiting list of nearly two years. Some of her forms of treatment included using sign language and having children use yes and no cards in school. Not only that, but instead of the parents speaking for the children out in public have your child point to the menu or hand the money to the cashier. I thought these were really interesting ideas, but made a lot of sense!
I thought this article was great, and I liked coming across information I had seen before and a doctor that I had done research on. What are you thoughts on this article?
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Numbers
In one of my earlier post I was curious about how many boys and girls have Selective Mutism and girls or boys were more likely to get it. After doing some research I found Selective Mutism is seen in fewer than 1% of children observed in mental health settings. Other websites suggested it is far more prevalent and many cases go undiagnosed. I was also curious about the ratio of boys to girls with SM. The female to male ratio I found was 2 - 2.5 : 1. So it is more commonly seen in girls.
The other day I was working on my blog at work and one of my co - workers asked about it. It was neat because I got to tell her about Selective Mutism and what I was doing. We ended up discussing what it would be like to have a sibling with SM. I thought that would be an interesting topic to ask people and hear their different opinions.
When talking with her she gave a response. She said she would be worried about her sibling. She thought that she would worry about their future and their social life. "I would fear that they wouldn't be able to find friends or someone who loved them for who they really where because they weren't able to show who they were." I thought this was a very interesting point. As a sibling you would get to see your brother or sisters personality at home but it would be hard to go out in public and see that not everyone else is getting to experience your sibling the way you are. I thought this was an interesting question to pose... How would you feel if your sibling was diagnosed with Selective Mutism? Hopefully in my next few blogs I will have some more responses to post!
The other day I was working on my blog at work and one of my co - workers asked about it. It was neat because I got to tell her about Selective Mutism and what I was doing. We ended up discussing what it would be like to have a sibling with SM. I thought that would be an interesting topic to ask people and hear their different opinions.
When talking with her she gave a response. She said she would be worried about her sibling. She thought that she would worry about their future and their social life. "I would fear that they wouldn't be able to find friends or someone who loved them for who they really where because they weren't able to show who they were." I thought this was a very interesting point. As a sibling you would get to see your brother or sisters personality at home but it would be hard to go out in public and see that not everyone else is getting to experience your sibling the way you are. I thought this was an interesting question to pose... How would you feel if your sibling was diagnosed with Selective Mutism? Hopefully in my next few blogs I will have some more responses to post!
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