Hi everyone! My 5 year old daughther has just been officially
diagnoised with selective mutism as of today. I only had a speech
pathologist observe her...and he is unable to help because he works
for the school district. The state of Wisconsin will not let school
districts help children with this problem. He did however suggest
that we wait to see what K5 brings in September. She has just
finished K4 and only spoke a total of probably 8 words, and this
wasn't until just recently. I guess my question is what do some of
you think is wise to do. Should I seek help now or wait to see what
happens in September? Also I wanted to know how seriously should I
take this? Someone said I should not take it so hard but the more I
hear about it I feel that it's more serious than some think. This
disorder can and already has affected her socially and
accademically. My dauther plays well with other children but very
rarely talks to them. I have already walked my daughter to class and
had a little boy say to his father as they were walking ahead of us
say "thats Brittany but she can't talk." What kind of problems await
her in years ahead if this is how a 4yr old thinks? Any and all
feedback would be greatly appreciated!