Doing some research

Doing some research on-line about Selective Mutism. Here's some interesting things I've found so far....

The characteristics (these all fit Payton!)

*Consistent failure to speak in specific social situations (in which there is an expectation for speaking, e.g., at school) despite speaking in other situations.
*The disturbance interferes with educational or occupational achievement or with social communication. (social for Payton)
*The duration of the disturbance is at least 1 month (not limited to the first month of school). (three years for Payton!)
*The failure to speak is not due to a lack of knowledge of, or comfort with, the spoken language required in the social situation.
*The disturbance is not better accounted for by a Communication Disorder (e.g., Stuttering) and does not occur exclusively during the course of a Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Schizophrenia, or other Psychotic Disorder.

and these symptoms:

*They find it difficult to maintain eye contact.
*Often don't smile and have blank expressions.
*They move stiffly and awkwardly.
*They find situations where talk is normally expected particularly hard to handle. (answering school registers, saying hello, goodbye, thank-you, etc.)
*They tend to worry about things more than others
*They can be very sensitive to noise and crowds
*Find it difficult to talk about themselves or express their feelings

On the positive side, many sufferers have:

*Above-average intelligence, perception, or are inquisitive
*Sensitivity to others' thoughts and feelings (empathy)
*Very good powers of concentration (focused)
*A good sense of right/wrong/fairness (justice)

I also found article that said its more common in girls and can run in families....my mom we think had this as a child and my dad and myself have a lot of issues with "shyness." It' also believed to be in about 7 in every 1000 kids so in reality a school Payton's size they could go 10-15 years and have maybe one kid with this which is probably why her teacher isn't familiar with it!