Please Don’t Refuse To Give Any Treats To The Child Who Doesn’t Say Trick Or Treat – They May Have Selective Mutism

I have always loved trick or treating. For most of my childhood years, my sisters and I would go trick or treating every single year. Selective Mutism presented many challenges for me when it came to going trick or treating… Where I’m from, we sing a song instead of saying trick or treat so when …

Selective Mutism: Hypervigilance About Who Is Around

When it comes to having Selective Mutism, every single person who has SM will have experienced hypervigilance to some degree. When given a psychological evaluation, I was found to have pretty severe levels of hypervigilance which was not surprising to me. "Hypervigilance is an enhanced state of sensory sensitivity accompanied by an exaggerated intensity of …

Why Do So Many People Believe That Selective Mutism Is A Choice?

Something that has always baffled me is why so many people believe that people who have Selective Mutism choose not to talk. I realise that the two main reasons are because of the name (Selective Mutism which suggests that it is a choice) and also the fact that people with SM do talk in some …

My Selective Mutism Awareness Month 2011 YouTube Video

I haven't managed to get a blog ready for today, so I thought that I would instead share a video that I made for Selective Mutism Awareness Month back in 2011.

I Had High Profile Selective Mutism

Before my days of the internet, I had always believed that everyone with Selective Mutism was exactly like me; extremely chatty at home but totally silent outside of their home. However, this is not the case and there are many people who suffer from what’s known as Low Profile Selective Mutism which is where they …

Selective Mutism: Health Anxiety

When discussing Selective Mutism, it is important to not only focus on the lack of speech aspect of SM, but also all of the anxiety that comes along with it. There is a lot more to SM than not being able to talk. Many people are not aware of this and tend to focus all …

The Devastating Consequences of Untreated Selective Mutism

TRIGGER WARNING: This blog contains content that may be upsetting to some people.    Throughout my blogs, I have mentioned multiple times that I have 7 different anxiety disorders as a result of my untreated Selective Mutism. Whereas I am not ready to talk about every single one of them just yet, there is one …

Selective Mutism: Ignorant Teachers

TRIGGER WARNING: This blog contains content that may be upsetting to some people.    I was just thinking back to my days at school and how ignorant teachers could be at times. So, I thought I would tell a few of the stories of ignorant teachers that I came across.   A comment that was …

Difficulty Communicating Effectively When You Start To Recover From Selective Mutism

When it comes to overcoming Selective Mutism, it is not as simple as many people may think; particularly if you’re in your teens or into adulthood. It is not just a case of once you’ve gone through all of the techniques that you’ll be able to be a complete chatterbox absolutely everywhere. I have a …

Selective Mutism – A Poem: The Walls Of Silence And Anxiety

This is a poem I wrote when I was about 16:   The whole world’s always been a virtual prison to me, I’m not free to be able to do what I wanna do, All I ask for is some freedom, But there’s 4 invisible walls completely surrounding me.   I’m standing around these walls …