What Is Selective Mutism?

Introduction

As Cohan, Chavira, & Stein (2007) relate, communication is one of the most important elements in school. Therefore, lack of communication by a child negatively affects the child’s social and emotional development. Furthermore, such a child presents insurmountable challenges in the classroom for teachers not trained to handle such situations. According to Omdal (2014), a little known anxiety disorder that stop a child from communicating is Selective Mutism (SM) that teachers, especially teaching kindergarten, should be aware.
Selective Mutism is a little-known disorder characterized by children and adult’s failure to speak in social settings and communicate effectively (Harwood, & Bork, 2011). Many adults have this disorder;