Selective Mutism: A Case Study

Selective mutism is a rare and poorly understood condition, usually occurring in childhood, that provides a substantial challenge when encountered by the speech-language pathologist. A case study is presented of a 13-year old girl with a history of cognitive, motor, speech, and language delays who was diagnosed by school personnel as selectively mute. The case is unusual because she received speech and language services almost from infancy but was first diagnosed as selectively mute only recently. The case analysis reveals that selective mutism can occur in complex interaction with other developmental and language problems, confounding both its diagnosis and the development of an appropriate therapy strategy.