Case Study: Selective Mutism in Early Years Setting
In the interest of safeguarding, this child has been referred to as ‘Wendy’ throughout the case study.
Our Speech and Language Therapist, Tript, has been working with Wendy on her Selective Mutism which is currently impacting her mental health.
Background
Selective Mutism can be very debilitating for pupils! This means that in specific situations or with specific people or even with specific communication tasks, the child feels intense anxiety and phobia-like signs that prevent them from talking.
Due to Wendy’s Selective Mutism, she has been struggling when in her nursery setting. Sadly, it means she struggles with communicating with others and making herself understood clearly.
Naturally, this also impacts her self-esteem, as Selective Mutism is an anxiety, causing a huge impact on her mental health. In addition, this is a critical age to begin forming social relationships and social communication skills. With her Selective Mutism, she struggles to build friendships where she feels comfortable talking and build these social communication skills.
As Wendy is currently in Early Years/Nursery School, it is essential to support this Speech, Language and Communication Need (SLCN) now, before she gets older. Without intervention, Selective Mutism can affect school attendance, engagement in the classroom and mental health. With proper intervention, we can help prepare settings and ensure she gets the most out of her educational experience!
How did Chatterbug help?
So far, Tript has carried out an initial assessment. This started with an observation session. In this observation, Wendy showed interest in Tript, a new adult, during group situations and even demonstrated some expressive language skills both spontaneously and in response to questions asked to the group of children! No pressure was put on Wendy and nothing was asked directly to her.
This gave Tript the perfect opportunity to give more specific recommendations to the staff. This was a very positive session and has benefitted the staff greatly! Based on the initial assessment, Tript has been able to educate others in the setting on Selective Mutism and advised how to make a Selective Mutism Friendly Environment. We have also taken steps to inform her parents and talk through some general strategies.
The next step is to provide training for all the staff to be able to implement strategies for Wendy in the setting and for parents so the intervention can be consistent.
Wendy’s progress to date
Wendy and Tript are still persevering with intervention as the challenges she faces are ongoing. However, with the support provided, Wendy’s setting is now more prepared to support her with her Selective Mutism.
This means that they can reduce maintaining factors and anxieties around talking to make her more comfortable in the nursery setting. We hope that Wendy will be more comfortable and more easily communicate with those in the setting.
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