AAP News Vol. 11 No. 9 September 1995, p. 3
© 1995 American Academy of Pediatrics
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Selective mutism

LAURIE LARSON

A child's inability to speak in specific situations should only be diagnosed as selective mutism after comprehensive evaluation, a study in the July Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry reported.

Selective mutism occurs in less than 1 percent of school-age children, and is most often classified as a childhood anxiety disorder, researchers stated. Mutism usually occurs at school. Selectively mute children will usually speak to family members and in environments that do not provoke anxiety. They are not constantly mute, nor do they abruptly stop speaking in the middle of an interaction.