[Source: New York Times, April 12, 2005]
Christine Stanley will never forget the call. Two weeks after her daughter Emily started kindergarten, the teacher phoned in a panic. Emily would not color, sing or participate in any classroom activities; in fact, she would not say a word to anyone.
It was not the first time Christine had received such a call. Emily had not talked at preschool, either. She did not make eye contact with store clerks or talk to nurses at the pediatrician’s office. She ran off the playground if another child approached.
Mrs. Stanley asked her sister, a special education teacher, what she thought. Mrs. Stanley had to explain the problem because at home and with family Emily’s behavior was perfectly normal. Her sister mentioned something called selective mutism, but quickly said that couldn’t apply to Emily.
“She told me, ‘Those children are emotionally disturbed and have been abused,’ ” Mrs. Stanley recalled. But once she started reading about the condition, she said, “I knew it really was selective mutism.”
Read the Rest of this article on Selective Mutism in the New York Times