• Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. We respect your privacy and will NEVER share your email address with anyone, ever.

    Join 1 other subscriber

  • Certifications

    Certified Coaches Federation Logo

  • Affiliations

    S-O-S Research Team
  • FosterMind

  • In Case You Missed It

Tag Archives: selective mutism

Camp Brave Buddies

January 09, 2012   admin   1 Comment
boy peeking from the door

Image creator Arvind Balaraman

 

Years ago I blogged about a wonderful camp called “Camp Brave Buddies” available to kids who suffer from selective mutism. At the time I thought it was an amazing opportunity for children until today when one of my facebook group members sent me the link to an ABC news special about just that – Camp Brave Buddies.

I am not embarrassed whatsoever to tell you that when I saw this today I cried. Not out right balling but a tear definitively came to my eye. Why you ask? Well, because in that article I saw our own struggles when our daughter was small. In that clip I saw the veils of hope gently rising from those childrens faces and the fire of life coming to fruitition. Why? Because some very special people who recognize how debilitating selective mutism is for children took the time to figure out how to help and gave them the tools and the awareness that they have a voice and a voice worth listening to. My hat and heart goes out to everyone over at Camp Brave Buddy for changing the lives of families who so desperately want to see their children thrive.

This segment is wonderful in so many ways. I welcome you to watch it and be hopeful that there is help out there for everyone.

Quitting the Quiet: Program Helps Selectively Mute Children Overcome Anxieties
By JUJU CHANG (@JujuChangABC) and KELLY HAROLD
Dec. 16, 2011

At home, Jake Semmel acts like a happy-go-lucky 6-year-old who loves “Star Wars” and fire trucks. At home, Maya Walker, 7, is a chatterbox.

But in public, Jake will only speak to a select few adults in his life and can’t even talk to his grandparents. At school, Maya hasn’t said a word in class for an entire year. She doesn’t move a muscle when she’s on stage during the school pageant. She could never blow out the candles at her own birthday parties.

“I kind of describe it like a Jekyll and Hyde,” said Maya’s mother, Tessie Scroggins. “She’s your normal 6-year-old at home, talkative and being a ham and dancing and singing. Outside of the home, if other people look at her, it seems like she’s a depressed kid.”

“People make assumptions about people who don’t talk,” added her father, Vincent Walker. “That they are shy, that they’re not as intelligent.”

To see the video and read the rest of the story please go to ABC News

Read More

Selective Mutism: Anxiety Disorder Mistaken as Rudeness

April 29, 2010   admin   2 Comments

Selective mutism may be something you’ve heard little, if anything, about. That can lead to a lot of misconceptions about the disorder. So let’s clear things up.

Selective mutism is an anxiety disorder. An individual with this disorder simply becomes so anxious in certain situations that they cannot speak. They may never talk, whisper, or talk to a select number of people. Many
people who have selective mutism also suffer from social phobia (a chronic fear of performance or social situations). This explains quite a bit. Selective mutism is not a communication disorder or an autistic spectrum disorder.

People with selective mutism are often mistaken as disrespectful, stubborn, willful, or attention getters. In reality, these individuals are none of these things. They are just so nervous that they have a really hard time looking someone in the eye or smiling in some social situations. They also look away when spoken to or confronted.

Read the full article

Read More

Why Dylan Doesn’t Talk

October 08, 2009   admin   No comments

A reader of the blog wanted to share with us a book that he recommends about selective mutism. If you have a chance to pick it up and read it please send in a review for everyone. I’d love to have your feedback.

I just became aware of a brand new book that may be a good resource for some your blog readers. It’s called “Why Dylan Doesn’t Talk” available at Lulu
Hope this helps some of your readers.

Read More

Camp Brave Buddies

July 19, 2009   admin   2 Comments

I just came across this magnificent opportunity for children who suffer from selective mutism. It is a great chance for kids to engage and feel a sense of belonging. If you know anyone in the New York State area what a great thing. Check out the full details at the Selective Mutism website.

Camp Brave Buddies is a one-week summer day camp
and simulated classroom for 4-6 year old children diagnosed
with Selective Mutism (SM). SM is an anxiety problem in
children who are typically quite socially engaged and
talkative in their home situations, but who have very
significant difficulties communicating verbally in school,
usually with both teachers and peers, as well as in other
public situations, such as ballet, gym, sports, or religious
classes. Most of these children are quite happy to go to
school and activities but dread having to verbally
communicate with others outside of their “safe” zones. They
learn to get by with nods and gestures and cannot fully
participate in the joy of conversation and the give-and-take of
friendship. Some children with SM are also even hesitant to
participate non-verbally, making even the simplest of typical
tasks, such as Show & Tell, quite scary. The start of each
school year brings fear for children with SM about how they
will get by, once again relying on gestures, and not being able
to get the words to come out.

Read More

Selective Mutism

June 16, 2009   admin   No comments

Selective mutism is a disorder usually first diagnosed in childhood. The first known cases date back to 1877 when German physician Adolph Kussmaul labeled children who did not speak as having “aphasia voluntaria.” Children who are selectively mute fail to speak in specific social situations, such as at school or in the community. It is estimated that less than 1% of children suffer with selective mutism, and that the disorder is more common in girls than in boys.

Read more

Read More
« Older posts

  • Featured Videos

    Essential Support

  • Recent Comments

    • krizzy: I think it's a bizarre idea to fight anxiety by me »
    • admin: Thanks for sharing a piece of your world with us. »
    • admin: What a great accomplishment for him. Must make him »
    • Robert: Well IV asked this question many times as my boy h »
    • kelly: I am entering for my brothers child who has some s »

  • What We’re Up To

    February 2012
    M T W T F S S
    « Jan    
     12345
    6789101112
    13141516171819
    20212223242526
    272829  
Powered by WordPress | Designed by: best suv | Thanks to toyota suv, infiniti suv and lexus suv

Array