Helping Your Child with Selective Mutism: Practical Steps to Overcome a Fear of Speaking Paperback – August 1, 2005

This book was a game changer in understanding my daughter’s selective mutism. Highly recommend for actionable advice.

This book was very helpful with beginning to start setting up a treatment program with my son. I was very lost in trying to help my child in dealing with his anxiety. There is not a lot of help out there for parents who's children have this diagnosis. This book helped me start setting treatment ladders right away. He has been working hard for 5 months and is now able to talk to a few friends and his teacher in a quiet setting. I very much recommend this book for any parent that has a child with selective mutism.

When this book arrived in the mail and I began reading it, I really did get a sigh of relief. I realized that there was 'something' out there to help us! Reading this book made me feel like I could handle selective mutism with my child. It gives clear ideas/plans of action and is very realistic. I highly recommend this book to ppl dealing with this debilitating disorder. I am proud and relieved to say that my daughter is close to exhibiting NO signs of SM. Much of this, is because of the excellent advise in this awesome book.

This is an excellent book. My grand daughter has selective mutism. This book helped me to understandthat selective mutism is caused by anxiety in the young child ; and to be aware of what is happening to her when she cannot speak out. It also explains how to help the child.Thank you Angela McHolm for this insightful book.

I turned to this book at a very difficult time in my life. I found answers in this book that covered many questions that I had about selective mutism. Good luck to you if you have a child that is suffering with SM.

I bought this book and "The Selective Mutism Resource Manual" together last week because my 5-year-old girl did not speak up in the nursery school even though she had been there for 3 years. The 2 books describe very similar behavioral programs. The only difference is that "Resource Manual" emphasizes that you need to be open and frank with the child: acknowledge his/her difficulties, give him/her some explanation for them and reassure the child that you will be able to help. This book does not advocate such an open approach.For my daughter's case, I chose the frank talk approach. I figured out that she was afraid that people would not respond when she talked in school. I told her this concern was natural because she did not speak English when she started school. Besides, every one in our family talks softly while the school is full of loud kids. I told her to use people's names and talk in a louder voice to get their attention, and that her teachers and I would help her learn. This simple talk seemed to do the trick. We had this talk last week. This week, she is much more willing to try the social skills that I have been trying to teach her. She had a play date today, and she talked with her friend back and forth. It never happened before. I could not believe my ears.In short, I strongly recommend "The Selective Mutism Resource Manual" if you have a child that is reluctant to speak up.

you don't need a clinical degree to follow this book. good background info and tips for teachers, therapists and parents. i'm a therapist and i recommend it. every parent of a kid with SM should read a book on SM. this is a very good one.

This book helped us a lot understanding the therapy and process to recovery from SM. It is sharp and to the point, easy to understand and execute.

Lots of facts,and tips and advice

This is a wonderful book for parents and caregivers of children with selective mutism. My daughter was struggling so much, but by following the conversation ladder guidelines in this book, she went from being non-verbal to whispering at school and talking at play dates (and continues to make progress every day!)This is not an easy journey. I had to really step outside of my comfort zone and become my child's greatest advocate. I had to fight for services for her and educate her teachers about this condition. I had to get consent and come up with a plan week-by-week on how I could visit my daughter in school to get her comfortable talking. Dr. McHolm's book covers everything- from how to educate your child's teachers, to each step you need to take as your child progresses up the ladder (e.g. first getting them to whisper to you outside of school, then whispering to you in school, then whispering in front of a teacher or child, then progressing to a normal volume, etc.). I was impressed at how much detail she went into- she really considers everything, like where your child should sit in the class to make her more comfortable.Dr. McHolm is a world expert in this field, and I have only heard good things come out of following the guidelines in her book. Even though it's been slow progress for us, it's progress I never thought I'd see. We celebrate all the small successes in our children with selective mutism! This book is going to get you on the right path. Because of the nature of selective mutism, a lot of our children don't respond well to therapy anyway, so I'm really grateful for this book.

２００７年７月に同書の日本語翻訳書が出ました。『 場面緘黙児への支援―学校で話せない子を助けるために 』　　　　　　　（河井英子・吉原桂子/共訳　田研出版） 場面緘黙児への支援―学校で話せない子を助けるために

Having a child with Autism is hard enough work... but when they also have selective mutism, it is even more difficult to judge what you need to do to meet their needs. As my son is non-verbal at present, I wanted to read something that may give me some hints and tips on how to best communicate, keep him included in everyday activities and to be honest, to draw some strength from the author for some help!I am not disappointed with this book. It is written a little assuming your child would be little (my son is 12) but helpful insights regardless of age. I am please I have read this. And would recommend this as a starting point to exploring the journey of selective mutism.

Selective mutism is a very rare condition, and therefore not every doctor is familiar with it.This book is fantastic, and I have been lucky enough to attend a workshop and receive help from Doctor McHolm, for my 5 year old son who has selective mutism.If your child has mutism, then I also suggest you recommend this book to your loved ones who are a part of your child's life. My son's grandparents have read this book and it was very helpful in having them better understand the condition and how to behave with my son.I also suggest you recommend this book to your child's school staff. Especially if they are not experienced with this condition.