My best friend's daughter is 5 years old and will not talk outside of the home.......she will be starting kindergarten in the fall and refuses to talk to anybody but her mom and dad.......she isn't sure what to do or where to even begin...she is in pre school right now and her teachers can't get her to say a word to them or any of the other children. They have made comments about her starting kindergarten and not knowing what she knows or don't know. Has anybody delt with this before or know of anybody that has and where does she begin?? We are up in arms and want to help her but her ped says she will talk when ready but she is already 5 and won't even talk to her grandparents. If you have a child like this or delt with this before please respond...and I must add that she is the smartest little girl I have ever seen, she can read, write, speak clearly and knows just about anything you would ask her......but simply refuses to talk to anybody else.
T.,
I don't know where you live but in akron you can contact childrens hospitals Help Me Grow line to get more information on therapy. Selective mutism is tricky b/c in most public schools the Speech language Pathologist will not service them b/c it is not actually a speech (forming word sounds) problems. Anyway good luck and if you live in Akron area y ou might want to call..
K.
Could it be some form of autism? I'm not familiar enough with autism to know for sure, but maybe something to research and talk to a doctor about.
Hi T., All of the suggestions so far have been good ones. I do want to through out the idea of a tramatis situation. A close family member of mine went through a horrible ordeal (for any child) and she stopped talking to everyone except for her little brother. It took a childs theripist to figure out and help her deal with what happened. Until then her family had no clue how scary it was. I Hate to be the person to bring it up, but I want your friend to concider every angle. Good luck.
F.
I am a preschool teacher and I had a girl who would not speak. She was a sweet little girl but she would only speak to her parents and she wouldn't talk to them around other people. They had her tested at Akron Childrens and found that she has selective mutism which is an anxiety disorder. She is now in Kindnergarten and doing well!
They definetly should consider getting a second opinion from another doc. It sounds like theirs doesnt pay that much attention. Also there is no harm in her not going to school this fall. The parents can hold her back one year and have her go when she is 6. That would just give her an extra year to work on things. Its impossible for her teacher to know what she does or doesnt know and if she does go to Kindergarten they may end up holding her back anyway. They could call they school she would go to and talk to the principal there. They might have dealt with something similar and could recomend someone to have the child see. also are the parents allowed or able to sit with her in school and will the little girl speak to them in front of others? Either way that is something to mention to the new doc.
Good luck with everything
S.
My daughter went thru the same thing. She started pre-school when she was 3 and the whole first year she didn't say ONE word to the teachers or kids. The next year she shocked everyone and was instantly talking to teachers, other staff and the kids. Now we beg her to stop talking:) I think the biggest thing that helped her was that they included her and let her go at her own pace with talking. No one tried to make her talk to them. If she wanted to great if not they moved on. My daughter is now 5 and she still doesn't talk to my brother or cousins. She is a shy person by nature. We don't push her into it. I would talk to the school district about your fears-especially before she starts...just so they know what they are dealing with. Hopefully everything works out....and don't talk about it in front of her:)
Hello T.,
I can understand how this could pose a problem. I read about this though. I am not a psychiatrist but the only thing I can think of is Selective mutism. I did a quick search and came up with an article: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/10...
Did they take the child to see a pediatric psychologist? Maybe that can help.
I've never known anyone quite like this. A friend of mine had a son that was a late talker and when he did begin talking it wasn't anything anyone could really understand, except for his parents... he talked to them at home... he turned out to have a severe hearing problem. I'm not saying that's what's going on with your friend's child but she may want to see another Dr. just in case or make an appointment with a developmental center so that she could possibly see a speach pathologist who can help her understand its ok to talk and ways to express herself. The dr's right about "she'll talk when she's ready" but being that she's 5 it's probably time to check into ways to encourage her. I wish I had some word of wisdom, sorry.
Hi T.,
It's very nice of you to be so concerned for your friend's daughter. I hope they are as concerned so they can do something for her.
It sounds like she's developing OK since she can talk, although social-emotional development is questionable. She may overcome this issue on her own, but if not soon she'll be left behind by friends in school. There is help out there the sooner she gets help the better for her own confidence. I can't believe the Dr. hasn't suggested something sooner. If it were my child I think I'd get a second opinion or switch Dr's.
They need to contact the school system she will be attending next year, ASAP. You don't need a Dr's order for this. The school system will probably do an evaluation to determine eligibility possibly for their special preschool for the rest of this year. There probably is no charge for this. There are specialists who know how to work with kids. The longer they wait the further behind she may be socially.
I wish them the best and hope that she responds well!
K. :)
Hi T.,
We have a fiend whose daughter does the same thing. They sent her to a special speech therapy school. It was originally in Newark, but they now have a branch located at the Licking Heights West School off of Waggoner Road. She goes every day for half a day and they work it out with her school schedule. She also goes in the summer as well.She is doing so much better! She will even talk to me know when we are all together.
I would call the school and get some information. The other great thing about this is that her insurance covered the cost. It may be worth looking into.
Good luck
