SELECTIVE MUTISM A GUIDE FOR PARENTS TEACHERS AND SPECIALISTS

Discover the key to understanding and supporting a child with selective mutism. This guide is an essential source of knowledge for parents, teachers, and specialists who want to help a child overcome communication barriers. Understanding the causes and mechanisms of selective mutism is the first step to effective intervention. This book offers practical tips and strategies to help you create an environment that supports the child's development and builds their self-confidence.

• Understanding selective mutism: Comprehensive information on causes, symptoms, and diagnosis.
• Practical tips for parents: How to support your child at home and cope with difficulties.
• Strategies for teachers: How to create a communication-friendly environment at school.
• Tips for specialists: A modern approach to the therapy of selective mutism.
• Examples and case studies: Inspiring stories and practical solutions.
• Support and resources: Access to organizations and support materials.
• Building self-confidence: How to help a child overcome fear and open up to communication.

This book is intended primarily for parents of children with selective mutism, as well as for their teachers and specialists. In Poland, there are few publications in which the reader will find a modern approach to selective mutism (SM). English and American literature is not available to everyone, which is why many parents, teachers, or specialists still believe that if a child talks at home, during a break at school, or in the office, they certainly do not have any disorder. It is often parents who ask themselves why my child, who talks and has fun at home, falls silent after crossing the threshold of kindergarten/school. At first, it is difficult for them to accept it. Sometimes they hear comments such as: the child probably doesn't speak because the parents don't allow it, they manipulate their environment, they choose people to talk to, they don't like this aunt or teacher.

Parents have to deal with such comments not only in kindergarten, school, at the doctor's, but also in the family. Unfortunately, even the family does not understand the child's problems and believes that the child has such a whim. Everyone must understand the essence of this disorder so as not to harm the child with their behavior on a daily basis, but to support and help them. Teachers and specialists should know alarming symptoms that suggest developmental abnormalities. They must also pay attention to any behaviors that are not typical. The term selective mutism is something new even for many specialists (psychiatrists, psychologists, speech therapists, educators) who have not yet met a child with such a diagnosis or have not been able to properly classify the symptoms occurring in them.

When diagnosing a child with SM, specialists should have sufficient knowledge about the essence of the disorder and the course of the therapy itself. In addition, some teachers cannot understand why a student does not answer questions in class, does not talk to teachers, does not talk to peers, and sometimes their mouth does not close during the break. They claim that this student manipulates their environment and only speaks when they want to or when they have something to say, e.g. if they knew, they would answer. The book was published by Impuls Publishing House in 2021, has 172 pages and has a format of 235x160 mm. The paperback cover ensures comfortable reading and durability. It is an indispensable source of knowledge for anyone who wants to better understand and support children with selective mutism.