I'm STILL waiting on my books! I love their prices but I have been told in the past when the same thing happened that they don't have the "man power" to drop an e-mail to let you know when/if your order has been shipped. Hopefully tomorrow they will get here!
"Mouthing" didn't work. Not that Payton didn't think it was fun but its incrediblely hard to tell what someone is saying by mouthing the word....give it a try lol! We might still try this game though b/c "mouthing" a word is a step to communicating.
Therapy, tomorrow. I'll give an update on how it goes!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
Do's and Don'ts for parents
The Do’s and Don’ts of Helping a Selectively Mute Child
Do’s
1. Listen
2. Encourage
3. Parents should form a united team and work together to help the child
4. Parents should privately discuss the SM behaviors and create a plan they can both agree to.
5. Educate others; this is not “stubbornness” or willful behavior on the part of the child, as is commonly believed.
6. Reward communicative behavior (nodding, note writing, waving, etc.), not speech.
7. Build upon the child’s existing strengths (singing, use of funny voices, reading, etc.)
8. Know how and where the child communicates
9. Help the child build friendships one at a time
10. When ready, introduce the use of audio and video taping
Don’ts
1. Ask, “Did you talk today?”
2. Criticize the child for not talking
3. Put added pressure on the child by demanding speech or trying to trick him or her into speech
4. Forget to give as much attention and time to the other children in the household
5. Foster dependence. Instead, find ways to help him or her communicate with others nonverbally
6. Discuss the child and his or her problems in front of the child or the other children in the family.
7. Praise in public; this attention makes the child feel more self-conscious
http://www.selectivemutism.net/index_files/page0003.htm
Do’s
1. Listen
2. Encourage
3. Parents should form a united team and work together to help the child
4. Parents should privately discuss the SM behaviors and create a plan they can both agree to.
5. Educate others; this is not “stubbornness” or willful behavior on the part of the child, as is commonly believed.
6. Reward communicative behavior (nodding, note writing, waving, etc.), not speech.
7. Build upon the child’s existing strengths (singing, use of funny voices, reading, etc.)
8. Know how and where the child communicates
9. Help the child build friendships one at a time
10. When ready, introduce the use of audio and video taping
Don’ts
1. Ask, “Did you talk today?”
2. Criticize the child for not talking
3. Put added pressure on the child by demanding speech or trying to trick him or her into speech
4. Forget to give as much attention and time to the other children in the household
5. Foster dependence. Instead, find ways to help him or her communicate with others nonverbally
6. Discuss the child and his or her problems in front of the child or the other children in the family.
7. Praise in public; this attention makes the child feel more self-conscious
http://www.selectivemutism.net/index_files/page0003.htm
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Another good article...
I came across this one today. Some helpful suggestions for a Selectively Mute child at school...
http://www.acposb.on.ca/mutism.html
It suggests trying to have your child "mouth" the word. I don't know if she will try that in therapy or not but I'm going to bring it up. We tried about a month ago to get Payton to "blow" or make a noise (during therapy) and she wasn't ready at that point. Mouthing is silent though so maybe she'd be able to do it. I'm thinking about practicing at home and making it a game so maybe when we try it at therapy in a more anxious situation she'd be less anxious to try it. Mouthing would be excellent though for situations she doesn't have a pad of paper with her or she's trying to write something she can't spell. Mouthing is one step closer to whispering too...baby steps!
Still waiting on my new books! Hopefully they will be here today!
http://www.acposb.on.ca/mutism.html
It suggests trying to have your child "mouth" the word. I don't know if she will try that in therapy or not but I'm going to bring it up. We tried about a month ago to get Payton to "blow" or make a noise (during therapy) and she wasn't ready at that point. Mouthing is silent though so maybe she'd be able to do it. I'm thinking about practicing at home and making it a game so maybe when we try it at therapy in a more anxious situation she'd be less anxious to try it. Mouthing would be excellent though for situations she doesn't have a pad of paper with her or she's trying to write something she can't spell. Mouthing is one step closer to whispering too...baby steps!
Still waiting on my new books! Hopefully they will be here today!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Payton's pic
I had a comment about Payton's pic on the right and her "silly" face. Just wanted to comment for anyone reading my blog who isn't familiar with SM. I selected this pic very intentially! The face and stance in this pic is very common for a child with SM. Often when they are anxious they will not be able to make eye contact, they have their head down, lip quivering, shoulders up and ridgid movement. SM kids find it hard to smile or have blank expressions when they are anxious too. She often has that stance when someone she doesn't know is taking the pic too...like this one that she refused to look up when we asked a stranger at Kings Island to snap a family pic really quick...
Anyways, I picked this pic not because she was being silly or anything like that but b/c it truely is "the face of a child with selective mutism."
Anyways, I picked this pic not because she was being silly or anything like that but b/c it truely is "the face of a child with selective mutism."
building confidence
Payton had therapy again today. I brought up to April about how Paytons sensory issues are improving. Before Payton would only wear a VERY select few outfits and even more select selection of shoes. Lately she's more willing to try new outfits on and she's even worn a few outfits that didn't fit into her "very baggy, doesn't rub anywhere etc" category. Sunday for church she pulled out a pair of shoes that I bought for her Halloween costume last year that until now shes NEVER worn. Her therapist said she's not too surprised about this b/c as Payton's confidence builds, her anxiety starts to lessen and these things start to improve. I know it sounds totally unrelated that her sensory issues have anything to do with anxiety and SM but it's connected somehow. We are very happy to see improvement in this department! Last year when we went shoe shopping we tried on every shoe in the store and left empty-handed now more recently she's wear many more and many new outfits! Anyways, its good to see that even though we aren't verbal *yet* we are seeing improvements. We'll get there *someday!*
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