Selective Mutism Awareness Month

Hey Y'all,

I was doing some research on monthly awareness' and came across a few that made me raise an eyebrow. Like...Correct Posture Month (May) and Tickling Month (July) there are many that I looked at and laughed but one in October stood out to me, it's called Selective Mustism Awareness month. Now just by reading the name of it I knew that it had something to do with not wanting or being able to speak.

If you know me you know I always have to find answers to my questions. I don't let sleeping dogs lie (love that idiom). So I went on a search for information. According to SelectiveMutism.org Selective mutism (SM), formerly called elective mutism, is defined as a disorder of childhood characterized by an inability to speak in certain settings (e.g. at school, in public places) despite speaking in other settings (e.g. at home with family). SM is associated with anxiety and may be an extreme form of social phobia according to researchers and clinicians who are familiar with the disorder (Black & Uhde, 1995; Dow et al., 1995, Dummit et al., 1997, Kristensen, 2001; Leonard & Dow, 1995).