Accomodations for selective mutism (MCPS)

[Anonymous]

A bit of a sidetrack but I just picked my teen daughter who had sm in pre-k and k from her freshman orientation.

she is a happy and very social-a bit on the reserved side but no trouble making new friends, mingling with new people, and really looking forward to moving into her dorm in a couple of weeks. I remember specifically wondering about how college would work when she was your daughter’s age so just wanted to share. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Is she on Prozac? If she is not on a small dose of Prozac, may I ask why?
Ds had it and Prozac was a life saver. At a young age small dose can require the brain chemistry and then child develops better social behaviors and talking becomes what is normal for the kid.

[Anonymous]

Many schools have summer school for rising K students. I have a child who most likely had a mild form of selective mutism and summer school. She ended up having the same teacher who taught summer school and was in class with many of the same kids.

Maybe closer to next year, you can start taking your child to the school playground on weekends so she becomes familiar with it. Speak with the principal in the spring and prior to K orientation. Maybe during K orientation your child can meet one or two of the teachers prior to going. And then again prior to school starting.

[Anonymous]

A child in my sons prek class was selectively mute during preschool but with therapy in place and support in the classroom, they are doing amazing now and you’d never know they had an issue. Going into K. This past year made a huge difference. Would take this one step at a time and get whatever intensive interventions in place now. A year from now things could be totally different.

[Anonymous]

This is the PP who had the really supportive principal and home visits from teachers. I just wanted to say to the OP that it sounds like you're doing the right things to help your child with the therapy, summer camp, and already thinking ahead to kindergarten. We first learned about SM by reading a post here on DCUM and realizing it completely described our kid, and the information and support we found here and on the Facebook page that's been mentioned helped so much in understanding what our child needed and how to explain that to others. I wish you and your child the best of luck as you help her work through her SM!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is she on Prozac? If she is not on a small dose of Prozac, may I ask why?
Ds had it and Prozac was a life saver. At a young age small dose can require the brain chemistry and then child develops better social behaviors and talking becomes what is normal for the kid.

DD was diagnosed very young - around 2.5 - which is too young for medication. She has responded fairly well to PCIT-SM therapy, and I suspect it's because of that her therapists have not yet recommended medication. However, we have experienced progress and then plateaus where she is verbal but not fully verbal in school. Some of it may be our fault for not being as diligent as we could be with exposures and playdates. We are looking forward to building our skill set during the parent training component of the camp and also getting tips from the other parents. I really appreciate your comment because it is a reminder to ask about medication. Anxiety definitely runs in our family and I myself recently started an SSRI which has been a game-changer for me personally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the PP who had the really supportive principal and home visits from teachers. I just wanted to say to the OP that it sounds like you're doing the right things to help your child with the therapy, summer camp, and already thinking ahead to kindergarten. We first learned about SM by reading a post here on DCUM and realizing it completely described our kid, and the information and support we found here and on the Facebook page that's been mentioned helped so much in understanding what our child needed and how to explain that to others. I wish you and your child the best of luck as you help her work through her SM!

Thank you PP!

[Anonymous]

We did an intensive camp last August and that really helped my daughter. That plus Prozac.

I’ve heard of teachers visiting students at their homes where the student is already comfortable.

We are also going the small private school route where they already have had kids with SM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is she on Prozac? If she is not on a small dose of Prozac, may I ask why?
Ds had it and Prozac was a life saver. At a young age small dose can require the brain chemistry and then child develops better social behaviors and talking becomes what is normal for the kid.

DD was diagnosed very young - around 2.5 - which is too young for medication. She has responded fairly well to PCIT-SM therapy, and I suspect it's because of that her therapists have not yet recommended medication. However, we have experienced progress and then plateaus where she is verbal but not fully verbal in school. Some of it may be our fault for not being as diligent as we could be with exposures and playdates. We are looking forward to building our skill set during the parent training component of the camp and also getting tips from the other parents. I really appreciate your comment because it is a reminder to ask about medication. Anxiety definitely runs in our family and I myself recently started an SSRI which has been a game-changer for me personally.

Micro dose of Prozac for a few weeks before school started and then weaning off w/n 6 months plus requesting he be assigned a low key experienced teacher (versus high energy rapid fire talking teacher) and having him visit the classroom the week before school started 2x greatly helped more than therapy or the selective mutism summer camp. We paid for an advocate to assist us before our meeting with the school to present our request at the 504 meeting the prior April before DS started K. Also the cost of the psychologist who wrote report after observing ds in prek class and answering questions over the phone. Thankfully the microsdose worked and was a life changer for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is she on Prozac? If she is not on a small dose of Prozac, may I ask why?
Ds had it and Prozac was a life saver. At a young age small dose can require the brain chemistry and then child develops better social behaviors and talking becomes what is normal for the kid.

DD was diagnosed very young - around 2.5 - which is too young for medication. She has responded fairly well to PCIT-SM therapy, and I suspect it's because of that her therapists have not yet recommended medication. However, we have experienced progress and then plateaus where she is verbal but not fully verbal in school. Some of it may be our fault for not being as diligent as we could be with exposures and playdates. We are looking forward to building our skill set during the parent training component of the camp and also getting tips from the other parents. I really appreciate your comment because it is a reminder to ask about medication. Anxiety definitely runs in our family and I myself recently started an SSRI which has been a game-changer for me personally.

Micro dose of Prozac for a few weeks before school started and then weaning off w/n 6 months plus requesting he be assigned a low key experienced teacher (versus high energy rapid fire talking teacher) and having him visit the classroom the week before school started 2x greatly helped more than therapy or the selective mutism summer camp. We paid for an advocate to assist us before our meeting with the school to present our request at the 504 meeting the prior April before DS started K. Also the cost of the psychologist who wrote report after observing ds in prek class and answering questions over the phone. Thankfully the microsdose worked and was a life changer for us.

Thank you for this, it's really helpful!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A bit of a sidetrack but I just picked my teen daughter who had sm in pre-k and k from her freshman orientation.

she is a happy and very social-a bit on the reserved side but no trouble making new friends, mingling with new people, and really looking forward to moving into her dorm in a couple of weeks. I remember specifically wondering about how college would work when she was your daughter’s age so just wanted to share. Good luck!

I got chills reading this, as it warms my heart so much. My teen is just starting HS and I worry very much how she will continue on to college. This gives me much hope.

[Anonymous]

I wish we had done medication sooner for my child. We started at nine (nearly 10), and it had a huge effect, but we're still working on situations where the habit of not talking is strongly ingrained - so-called "contaminated environments."

[Anonymous]

Hi op - I am facing the same situation and wondering how kindergarten went. Was your daughter in pre-k? We just received an official diagnosis and she will be starting K in the fall. She’s always been in full time daycare / preschool and she can talk but very quietly in the classroom (is totally fine on playground). I don’t think her case is extremely severe but I am worried about her ability to communicate and learn in K and ask to go to potty…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi op - I am facing the same situation and wondering how kindergarten went. Was your daughter in pre-k? We just received an official diagnosis and she will be starting K in the fall. She’s always been in full time daycare / preschool and she can talk but very quietly in the classroom (is totally fine on playground). I don’t think her case is extremely severe but I am worried about her ability to communicate and learn in K and ask to go to potty…

Hi! So our DD will start K this year. She no longer has SM after working with a SM therapist, SM camp and doing lots of exposures and setting up a reward system for brave talking . She does still have anxiety, so still want to do an extra visit to meet the teacher if possible but are pretty hopeful she will be fully verbal.

I would definitely lean into treating the SM. SM is both very impairing and treatable. Get the Overcoming Selective Mutism book - I found it so helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi op - I am facing the same situation and wondering how kindergarten went. Was your daughter in pre-k? We just received an official diagnosis and she will be starting K in the fall. She’s always been in full time daycare / preschool and she can talk but very quietly in the classroom (is totally fine on playground). I don’t think her case is extremely severe but I am worried about her ability to communicate and learn in K and ask to go to potty…

Hi! So our DD will start K this year. She no longer has SM after working with a SM therapist, SM camp and doing lots of exposures and setting up a reward system for brave talking . She does still have anxiety, so still want to do an extra visit to meet the teacher if possible but are pretty hopeful she will be fully verbal.

I would definitely lean into treating the SM. SM is both very impairing and treatable. Get the Overcoming Selective Mutism book - I found it so helpful.

Which camp did you do?