Parents Guide: How to Help a Child with Selective Mutism
Guides
Signs of SM
- Talking freely at home, but becoming completely or mostly nonverbal at school or around strangers
- Inability to speak even to familiar adults (such as parents) in the presence of others
- Difficulty talking with peers in school
- Seeming “shut down” or “paralyzed” in social situations
- Using gestures, facial expressions and nodding in place of verbal communication