Selective mutism is a social anxiety disorder characterized by not speaking to specific people or in specific venues. It is a specific variation of obsessive compulsive disorder. “Obsessive” refers to the conscious and non-conscious worrying. “Compulsive” refers to the verbal shutdown. The problem varies in degrees of severity. In addition to children many adolescents and […]

  This is a complex subject about which I can write extensively. My objective with this article is to identify, and begin to organize, mental health issues for the Selective Mutism child within academic environments. “My child is normal at home. It’s school that’s the problem!” When a teacher tells parents that a child doesn’t […]

Mikey age 7, an intellectually gifted child, never spoke in school. The school recommended speech therapy. This proved useless as the problem was selective mutism, which is a very specific form of social and performance anxiety. Ashley’s mother hoped that she would be able to overcome her shyness in kindergarten. When summoned to the school […]

Jonathan Berent, L.C.S.W This “tip of the month” is in response to the countless inquiries I receive from well-intentioned school personnel who contact me regarding their concerns about selectively mute students. The content here is based on my clinical experience since 1978 with individuals of all ages who suffered from social anxiety in general, as […]