Aspergers and Selective Mutism
Hi there and I hope you’re having a good week so far. We’ve had a few rare rays of sunshine for the last couple of days here in the UK – but true to form it looks like rain again today!
This week’s article looks into something called “selective mutism” and its links to Aspergers …
Question
One of my Aspie sons (17) hollers when distressed; the other (15) gets more silent. It’s the silent one I worry about, but social integration suffers for both. I just hope it gets better in adulthood. What’s known about “selective mutism?”
Answer
The Definition of Selective Mutism
Selective Mutism is a psychiatric disorder, and it is most commonly found in children.
The predominant feature of Selective Mutism is a persistent failure to speak in various settings. This lack of vocal skills usually lasts for more than one month. Typically, a child who exhibits the signs of Selective Mutism will speak with their parents, but with few other people. These children aren’t known for speaking in a school setting or in social situations that they perceive to be stressful. Studies indicate that Selective Mutism is related to anxiety and shyness; however, the specific cause is unknown.
Children with Selective Mutism will respond to people using silent physical responses like pointing, nodding their heads, or simply remaining motionless. It can be difficult to discern what the child wants when there is little responsive information available; yet, the meaning of the child’s limited actions can only be guessed until it appears that the child has had its needs met.
The child appears to be withdrawn during the early years, and a diagnosis of Selective Mutism may not be given until the child has entered school. When the diagnosis has been made, the child has been used to communicating with physical motions and not speech; therefore, physical communication has become the most familiar response for the child.
The Diagnosis of Selective Mutism
These are the diagnostic criteria for Selective Mutism; the child:
- Will not speak in school or in social situations
- Has an inability to speak that interferes with their ability to successfully function in school and/or social settings
- Exhibits mutism that has persisted for at least one month
- Is not experiencing a communication disorder, and the mutism is not occurring along with another mental disorder.
A child is most likely to develop Selective Mutism if they exhibit a genetic predisposition to anxiety. In addition, the child may demonstrate severe anxiety, temper tantrums, crying, mood changes, sleep problems, and extreme shyness. Some theorists state that mutism is developed to control feelings of internal anxiety when in social situations. The children will speak normally when they are in a setting that they feel is comfortable, and when they feel secure and relaxed.
The Treatment of Selective Mutism
- Behaviour Modification – Desensitization and positive reinforcement for speaking to familiar people
- Self-Esteem Enhancement – Placing an emphasis on the child’s successes
- Socialization – Meeting and spending time with familiar people first, then unfamiliar people with familiar people present
- Cognitive Therapy – A form of behaviour change that helps replace fears with positive activities
- Medication – Short-term (less than one year) psychotropic administration.
When Selective Mutism is accurately diagnosed and properly treated, the symptoms can be controlled and minimized. This contributes to the child’s being able to communicate with others, and it will increase self sufficiency and self esteem. When Selective Mutism is treated and monitored, the child can move from suffering in silence to active communication and social integration.
That’s all for this week - but I just wanted to let you know that I am still working away the best I can behind the scenes on the new Aspergers website! I noticed a comment on the blog this week – that some people are struggling to read the full articles. This is a problem that seems to persist whatever my web guy does – as people use different internet browsers, so it affects different people.
But the new website will definitely not have this problem and will be much easier to navigate and use. I am currently looking at the different kinds of software available for you guys; so it may be some time before everything is completed. But be assured it’s a work in progress – and I’ll keep up-dating you as it develops.
Have a great day
Dave Angel
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new autism commercial coming out on the 29 on familynet. Or google http://www.thegloballearningseries.tv go to the home page and hit autism.
Comment by patty — September 16, 2008 @ 3:24 pm
sorry its just thegloballearningseries.tv
Comment by patty — September 16, 2008 @ 3:33 pm
my daughter has mutism but some days I thank GOD she does other wise she tends to say the wrong things at the wrong time like in church when she says the old man next to her smells
Comment by peggy elder — September 16, 2008 @ 4:33 pm
Thank you for the article, I work with a child who has selective mutism she feels comfortable with me and she has been only speaking with me. The first day I met her I went to the school bus to get her off, I work in a school and she grabbed a hold of my finger and would not let me go. two weeks later she started speaking to me.
this article reinforces what I already know. Thank you
Comment by cynthia — September 16, 2008 @ 6:03 pm
When my son was younger, I often wondered if people that came up to him thought he was deaf. They would talk to him and he wouldn’t even look at them or even acknowledge they were there. That didn’t happen all the time but most of the time. Then he would pick a complete stranger and do the exact opposite and just talk away to them. He did that once,when he was 2,to a hispanic waiter in a mexican restaurant in Germany that didn’t speak English but that didn’t stop him from jabbering away at him everytime he went by our table. I have always wondered what made him totally ignore most people and then jabber up a storm with others. He wouldn’t even let his teachers know he could read fluently in Kindergarten. I finally had to tell them to just give him something to read and tell him to do it, don’t ask him if he can or he won’t answer you. They were surprised to find that he read at a 2nd grade level. They said most kids that can read at that young age usually brag about it, I said, not my kid.
Comment by Jill Yohn — September 16, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
Wow, I can totally relate to this, both as an AS adult and a a parent of an AS son.
When I was a kid, people used to call me “Mouse” because I’d clam up in certain situations, with certain people. It’s hard to explain exactly why I would do this. It’s almost as if my senses went into complete overload, and I’d just shut down. I simply couldn’t deal with it. Of course, later, I’d play the scene again and again in my head, thinking of all the things I wished I had said, but didn’t.
As an adult, I can force myself to speak when necessary, but I don’t like to. The Internet has been a godsend to me because I can speak normally, here, without feeling all the anxiety I’d feel if it were in person.
Ironically, it’s frustrating to me when my son does essentially the same thing. I need others to be verbal with me, and yet he cannot. I understand why, and yet it’s even more difficult to deal with.
Parents, be kind to your children. Try to appreciate that these situations are 1000x more stressful for them than they are for you. And never, never assume that because they don’t speak, they don’t understand. I assure you they do!
Comment by Vicky — September 16, 2008 @ 8:38 pm
I had a very interesting case of selective mutism a few years ago. A very sweet little girl, aged 5 , in my class in a special school. She was totally silenty and almost inert - standing with her arms at her side -it was almost as if she was frozen in time. She required gentle prompting to do all tasks but was able to achieve . She never spoke at all in school. I asked her parents to make me a video of her having fun at home and I was truly amazed at how different she was . After forming a bond with her - I decided we would watch the tape together - but with no sound. Her little face just lit up. Bit by bit we increased the volume
and I always spoke to her in a whisper. When teaching her to read she was then able to whisper the words and by the end of the school year we had integrtaed her into a mainsteam school - where she continues to do well. She is still very softly spoken - but outgoing and friendly.
Comment by Kay — September 16, 2008 @ 11:06 pm
DAVE, Julie Bliven, Here I need to try to talk to you! I figure that most of your readers are confused but I am really confused with having a
TBI myself and having a Aspergers child (9) and in the 4th grade boy I see things like a little of this and that but not a whole lot of one thing. Is it just possible to just be starting of additional different things add to his Asd.
I save my parenting asd mini courses that I receive. I Love my Kevin with all my heart and Is hard to not be with him when I let him go somewhere without me. I am not a parent that is in everybodies business but just want to be there to support my Kevin when he has friends that want to play with him. I just want to there to help him when there might be to much for him when it might be to much for him. Is that to muc to ask!!!!
Comment by Julie Bliven — September 17, 2008 @ 11:18 am
Dave, this sounds like my daughter, however she is 32 and has done this all her life. Diagnosed @ 26 with Aspergers, she has struggled all her life, but she is deteremined. She is okay one on one (with people she knows), but put her in a situation where there’s a group of people and she will even fall asleep.
Comment by Carolyn Such — September 17, 2008 @ 1:40 pm
JULIE; I too feel the need to protect my child from a cruel world. Plus, like you, I love to be around my kids(19,12,and
But we must find some people we can trust too. So they can learn to be on their own. We will not be here forever. Sometimes I think “If I died, who and what would I want my child to know.”
Write to me: NADAFINGA07@gmail.com
Comment by Debbie Johnson — September 21, 2008 @ 6:30 am
I have an 8 year old daughter in 3rd grade. We just changed schools and she is having a very difficult time with one of the little girls in her class bullying her. The school psychologisit was there to monitor her without her knowledge and she came up to her and asked her could she have a book to poke her eye’s out. The Dr. thought she had heard her wrong and said excuse me and Paige repeated it. When i questioned her about it she said that she said it because the little girl was being so mean to her she didn’t want to have to look at her anymore. I’m not understanding why she would say something like this. The Dr. didn’t know what was going on between the girls. she seams to leave very important information out of her conversations. Is this normal for asperger’s?
Comment by Cindy — September 25, 2008 @ 11:24 am