Blog on Selective Mutism

There comes a time when you just have to accept what was going on.  My son lived in two worlds, the world of the speaking, and the world of being selectively mute. He did not seemed as bothered as we were that he did not speak.  He seemed very happy. The summer was filled with his talking and growth. Neighbor children came to play, he went to play, so normal, so regular, so talkative. Go to a school friends house, no talking, parallel play, so different.

He was about to turn 5, and we decided not to send him to kindergarten and to give him the gift of another year of preschool to see if this all worked out.  He still could not say his was sorry; without spelling it, he was talking to us about why he thought he was not speaking.  He just said, I can’t or the words just don’t come out.

The use of medications to treat option was returning as the only next choice, with all the other paths we had followed not finding a solution. We were still resistant. No protocol for children of this age, side affects TBD.  It was just not the desired out come.  The more we reviewed this with the Dr. the more the message was clear.  Do you know what potential this child has and that you as his parents are preventing this from happening. 

We felt awful.  We felt as though there was not one else in this world that was bucking the system and saying no.  We finally agreed, if nothing changes by the time he was to go back to preschool we would reluctantly consider medication options.  Hope for it to work itself out naturally was fading. Just like the long days of summer coming to an end, the school year loomed just two weeks away.