How can I support a child who has stopped speaking?

Thank you very much for your question and for your commitment to your pupil, which I can tell from your enquiry! I’d be happy to offer a few suggestions here.

Selective mutism is an anxiety disorder

Firstly, to put the issue into context: Selective mutism is not a speech development disorder, but an anxiety disorder. Children and young people with selective mutism are unable to speak in certain situations (e.g. at school), despite having age-appropriate language skills. Boris Hartmann says: “It is not the person affected who decides whether to speak, but the situation itself that dictates it.” (Hartmann 2005, p. 13)

Security and trust

The most important thing is this: putting pressure on the child or ‘forcing’ them to speak does not help; in fact, it usually intensifies their anxiety. Instead, the aim is to provide the child with a sense of security and trust and to facilitate alternative means of communication.

Practical approaches

Here are some practical approaches that have proved effective in practice:

• Accept silence: Show the child that they are part of the community even without speaking. Address them in a friendly manner, but do not ask questions that might put them under pressure.
• Offer alternative means of communication: Encourage the child to express themselves in writing, through gestures, pictures or drawings. Digital tools (e.g. tablets) can also help. Use non-verbal activities for the whole class as well (symbols, gestures, cards). Other children and young people are often grateful for these alternatives from time to time.
• Encourage peer interactions and small-group situations: The child may often feel more secure in smaller, familiar groups. Encourage pair work or small-group activities with children with whom they already have a relationship of trust.
• Create reliable structures: Fixed routines and clear procedures provide a sense of security. A fixed seat, small tasks or designated support persons can help.
• Recognise small, positive steps: Any form of contact or non-verbal participation is progress. Praise these small steps without over-emphasising them.
• Seek collaboration: Discuss the situation with school social workers, special needs teachers, speech and language therapists and the parents. They know the child best and can provide valuable insights.
• Show patience: Change takes time. It is normal for progress to be slow and sometimes to come in waves.

Avoid strategies that encourage silence

It is also important to know that mutism is a condition that can be overcome. However, this does not mean that the problem will resolve itself. School strategies that encourage silence rather than speaking (suspending oral assessment as a form of compensatory support, employing a teaching assistant, or acceding to the child’s or family’s request for special arrangements) should therefore be avoided (Hartmann, 2020, p. 24).

For a more in-depth analysis, it would also be important to consider whether the pupil is growing up in a monolingual or multilingual environment.

I hope that these thoughts can provide you with a few ideas.

Kind regards

Nina Gregori

Further reading:

Agatha Wehrli, 2023, FHNW, Selective Mutism in Nursery School, link

Very practical and informative: Hartmann, Boris (2020). ‘Mutism and School – Fundamentals, Recommendations and Strategies for Dealing with Silent Pupils’. Mutismus.de – Journal of Mutism Therapy, Mutism Research and Self-Help 12, No. 22, pp. 5–28.

An introduction to the topic of multilingualism: Mayer, Andreas, and Tanja Ulrich (2023). Speech and Language Therapy with Children. 2nd ed. Utb GmbH, p. 474