Selective Mutism Case Study

Selective Mutism Disorder

1. Clinical Description

i. Presenting Problem

Selective Mutism is a rare disorder that results in the individual being unable to speak in social situations upon expectation, despite being able to speak in comfortable places such as at home. This disorder can be quite distressing for children because they cannot effectively communicate with their teachers and peers, therefore they have difficulties in school. Often, children with this disorder will communicate by pointing, using gestures, and head nods (Mitchell & Kratochwill, 2013). In order for a child to meet diagnostic criteria for selective mutism, their failure to speak in social interactions must persist for longer than one month, with the first month of school

According to Barlow, selective mutism is highly associated with anxiety disorders. In fact, a study found that children with selective mutism had higher rates of social anxiety than the control group of children without selective mutism (2015).

An individual who experiences selective mutism disorder endures psychological dysfunction, distress or impairment, and they behave in a way that is not culturally expected. Of course, everyone experiences some sort of distress every now and then, and some people may be considered a little odd by society, but when the distress, and the dysfunction becomes severe and excessive, is when it is considered to be a psychological

The symptoms of this disorder can begin in children as young as 2 years old, but will most likely appear in a child once they enter school. Children almost always outgrow this disorder once they reach adolescence. Since anxiety disorders are commonly comorbid with selective mutism, many children will outgrow selective mutism, but will remain to have the symptoms of social anxiety throughout their adulthood. Although the course of selective mutism is a rather short one compared to other psychological disorders, it is just as distressing and destructive for the child as any other psychological disorder existing, and in spite of this disorder dissipating once the child had reached adolescence, other social anxiety symptoms may dwell with them throughout their