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