Aspergers and Selective Mutism

Carrie B — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:34:58 +0000

I am the author of “Why Dylan Doesn’t Talk” a new children’s book about Selective Mutism. I would love if you could share this book with others who may find it helpful for their child. Please see url for more info. Thank you!

Aspergers and Selective Mutism

Andreia — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 02:20:33 +0000

this is a comment(?), but I am also trying to find out of there are other people similar to my 13 yr old daughter. My daugter was diagnosed autistic at age 3. Then, by age 11 we were told that she is probably aspergers because she is so smart. AP Math and advanced art. We lived in a school district that had special classes just for autistic children, however they weren’t set up for ASPY kids. I have been very involved in autism support groups for 10 yrs. Last yr, we moved to another school district, which required my daughter to be rediagnosed. This time, she was diagnosed with Selective Mutism. While it is true that she only speaks in certain situations, her tone is kind of robotic and she prefers sameness…even in conversation. She still seems typically ASPY to us. She talks a lot to me, however, it’s mostly about anime and her Wi Game. Or, she will typically ask questions that she already knows the answers to. I was reading some of the responses on Selective Mutism and my daughter used to say things that people were offended by, but then she stopped talking to strangers and all children her age to avoid negativity from other people. Have any of you guys heard of someone being both Aspergers and Selective Mute? My daughter has always been this way to a degree. Thanks.

Aspergers and Selective Mutism

Cindy — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:24:57 +0000

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?

Aspergers and Selective Mutism

Debbie Johnson — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 11:30:24 +0000

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

Aspergers and Selective Mutism

Carolyn Such — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:40:00 +0000

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.

Aspergers and Selective Mutism

Julie Bliven — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:18:09 +0000

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!!!!

Aspergers and Selective Mutism

Kay — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:06:00 +0000

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.

Aspergers and Selective Mutism

Vicky — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:38:09 +0000

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!

Aspergers and Selective Mutism

Jill Yohn — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:28:07 +0000

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.

Aspergers and Selective Mutism

cynthia — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:03:30 +0000

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