How to Help Your Child with Selected Mutism?

18 Jul How to Help Your Child with Selected Mutism?

Before you dive deep into the topic of how to help your child with selected mutism, let’s clarify what selected mutism is.

Selected Mutism can be defined as an anxiety disorder that affects a person’s inability to speak in certain social settings such as school, work, or somewhere else. It does not mean that people with selected mutism don’t know what to speak, rather it is their anxiety that prevents them to speak in these situations.

This anxiety disorder can be seen commonly in children. Here comes the role of parents who can make a big impact on your child’s progress and development with Selected Mutism.

Carpe Diem International School, one of the best CBSE schools in Rajpura provides some tips to the parents to help their children with selected mutism.

How to Support Your Child with Selected Mutism?

Here are some to support your child with selected mutism using best practices:

• Find a Treating Professional: Fortunately, selected mutism can be treated through diagnosis and treatment. The most common treatment for selected mutism is behavioural therapies that gradually encourage the child to speak even in difficult situations. There are several other treatments such as psychotherapy, medication, and speech-language therapy. But it is important to find a treating professional who can help you by treating your child with selective mutism.
• Offer Praise When Your Child Speaks Up on their Own: It is important to show some positive reinforcement to your child especially when you see your child speaks up on their own. Let them know that they are going extremely well.
• Don’t Force Your Child to Answer in Large Groups: It is not always good to force your child to speak in some situation where he/she does not like to speak. Commonly, children with selected mutism find it hard to answer in large groups. Here you must help your child set up one-on-one introductions, so the child can establish a comfortable speaking relationship.
• Practice Brave Talking: Brave talking is an effective strategy that helps individuals with selected mutism to practice speaking in a comfortable environment. It involves giving your child more time, sit with him/her and practice simple scripts for social interactions they struggle with. For instance, ask your child to answer what do you say when you order at a restaurant? How do you ask for the cost of something?

The Bottom Line: 

Selected Mutism is a long journey with several ups and downs. But as a parent, you should not give up hope, instead provide your child with the best support he/she needs as recommended by Carpe Diem School, the top CBSE school in Rajpura.