Selective Mutism

11 Pages 2643 Words

as been going through some changes in the past couple of years. (Bergman et al., 2002) Speech/Language pathologists and professionals from other disciplines have discovered that in most children the onset of selective mutism was not due to a speech and language pathology or a major trauma; personal, family or environmental. (Bergman et al., 2002) Evidence indicates that the problem is most likely due to the child’s temperament and the behavior exhibited as a result of anxiety. Physicians should not over simplify the problem, by searching for a single causing factor such as trauma or abuse which could lead to a tedious search and miss diagnosing. (Stein et al., 2001) Psychological or physical trauma was only noted, by researchers, in four out of thirty children diagnosed with selective mutism. (Cummings-Stegbauer, 2002) Current research has suggested that selective mutism is consistent with shyness and withdrawal exhibited in children when they enter school. (Stein et al., 2001)
Selective mutism tends to ...