My 2.5yr old daughter has just been diagnosed with selective mutism. We've got paediatrician and psychologist appointments coming out of our ears, but I just wanted some advice from other Mum's who have faced this. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed!
Help! My daughter has Selective Mutism!
Help! My daughter has Selective Mutism!
Posted in:
Mental Health, Education, Behaviour, Baby & Toddler, Aspergers & Autism
2 Replies
My nephew was diagnosed with this when he was 3 he is now 5 and doing great. He went to a child psychologist a few times and a speech therapist. It really is that he is just a shy kid. His mother and father are both shy people. But shy has become a dirty word and is now politically incorrect term. Some doctor even wanted to put him on Prozac. He was 4
I had this as a kid. I grew out of it when I was in year 7 but still struggled with low self esteem and confidence. I would recommend lots of positive reinforcement. Don't punish your child for not talking. My parents were not helpful and when report cards came in I was sent to my room, they pulled my ears and they would belittle me in front of their friends and tell them how I didn't talk and how disappointed they were in me. PLEASE don't do this it will make it so much worse.
My teachers gave me lots of chances in school, I got out of doing speeches but still had to write them out and the teacher would read it out to the class for me. Teachers are trained to work with all kinds of kids and you can still do well academically so don't stress about that.
At the end of the day it's important to make sure your child is happy. Try to praise her, encourage her to develop other good skills don't focus on lack of talking and constantly tell her how good she is at other things when she's doing them. Tell her how proud you are of her constantly and it will help with self esteem/confidence. I probably would have talked much sooner if my parents had done all these things.
In the meantime teach her some basic sign language so she can communicate with the people she doesn't feel confident to talk to.
I'm now confident, happy and very social. I have my own little family, I'm a full time mum but I will return to work and have every opportunity to be as successful as the next person. I hope this helps.