There are children who have no problem talking to anyone and in any situation, showing a large repertoire of social and linguistic skills that allow them to relate properly. But there are also children who do not find this so simple, and answer any question with silence.
On the other hand, we can meet children who do not have any problem in speaking and telling a thousand and one adventures to their parents or known people and their usual environment and who, however, cannot do so in other less everyday determined situations to he. Let's see what happens when my son is afraid to talk.
When this peculiar situation occurs, in which the child says nothing when he is visiting a family friend whom he sees from time to time, or when someone asks him something on a birthday, parents usually justify it saying that "my son is very shy".
But what can happen is not that the child is introverted, but may not be able to speak in certain social situations (birthdays, family gatherings ...) or with people who are not used to seeing or are not part of their daily routine . This type of disability is known as selective mutism.
We could say that it is a problem of speech inhibition that, when it appears, usually occurs approximately after three years of age and that occurs despite the fact that our child has a correct language development.
In general, we could say that selective mutism is a difficulty communicating verbally in social settings and situations and / or with little known people For our children. Its detection (and obviously its diagnosis) are not easy to carry out since, as I have indicated before, it tends to justify that lack of initiative and social interaction saying that the child has a shy and withdrawn character.
It is usually the teachers of nursery schools and colleges who realize that the child maintains a rather peculiar way of communicating and verbally interacting with his classmates, since he is permanently silent; When talking with parents and commenting on their child's attitude, they are surprised because with them, at home, he shows himself as a very talkative child.
However, the one that is difficult to diagnose early does not mean that it is not vital to detect it as soon as possible to prevent our child's anxiety levels from increasing as time passes, since this anxiety causes suffering to the little ones, affecting negative way to personal, social and educational development.
Why does this happen? The causes of why a child may have selective mutism are not very clear, although it is known that this disorder has a high hereditary component that is affected with different biological and environmental factors, such as a traumatic situation (for example, being hospitalized for a long time, separation of parents, change of housing to another city ...).
In these children, high levels of anxiety can be seen when they have to face different social situations, as well as different degrees of separation distress, extreme shyness, social isolation, negativism or even eneuresis.
As always, if we suspect that our child may suffer from selective mutism, we must go to a specialist to guide us in the intervention that is most suitable for the child, where the participation of the family and school of the child will be necessary mainly.
It's very important not overwhelm or force the child to speak; It is better to follow the guidelines indicated by the specialist so that, little by little, our little one does not find everyday social situations as an extreme difficulty that prevents him from carrying out different situations because be afraid to talk.
