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Ro Rayburn From: South MS Website: E-mail: Rowboat83@aol.com	I saw the Connie Chung interviews, I think I may have a 3yr old with this disorder. Myself, as a child, was extremely shy, would not talk to anyone but my Mom and my brother. Can this disorder be hereditary?? Added: June 15, 1999
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Jennifer From: North Carolina Website: E-mail: canyankee@hotmail.com	My parents saw the 20/20 that aired recently and told me about Selective Mutism. I am 23 years old and all my life have been called shy. I spoke to only a handful of people until after I was 17 years old. My parents did not push me, but encouraged me. It took alot of faith in God, alot of prayer and fifteen years before I could get over it. And even then it was a slow process. I still have moments when I freeze up and I get embarrassed very easily. But most people never know I had even been shy. I have enjoyed looking over this website and reading the previous entries. It is nice to know there are resources out there to help people. Even if it is simply to know they are not alone. Added: June 15, 1999
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Gayle Shimoff From: Israel Website: E-mail: gayle@photonet.com	I have a son with Sm and a husband who probably had it as a child also. Please add me to your email list if you have one, so that I may recieve information about combating this problem. I am at a lose as to how to help my 7 year old son, even though he has been going to play therapy for a few months. Thank you. Added: June 15, 1999
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Lorraine From: Pennsylvania Website: E-mail: Hilldonia1@aol.com	My daughter had SM for 3 weeks when she was about 2-3/4 yrs old. It was the worst 3 weeks of my life. I kept a journal and have some quite compelling videotape of both her refusal to speak as well as the breakthrough night when she started to speak again. At the time this was happening, there was virtually no info on the subject except for a few lines in a psychology book here and there. Luckily, we found a counselor to help us. It tore my family apart. My mother claimed it was because she was stubborn (like me). So I felt guilty and then blamed my mother for my being stubborn and on and on it went, like nuclear bomb thru the family. Everyone had ideas to try and treatments to seek, as though what we were doing wasn't enough.My husband and I fought too. The upshot of the whole thing was this..... My daughter had croup. We had to give her medicine from a dropper which she refused to cooperate taking. We would literally have to sit on her and force her to take it. We would say, "Open up." Well, a few days into this, the SM began. We thought it was the croup. The Dr said it was common, that her throat might still hurt. A week later it was clear that something was up. She would only open her mouth to eat. Any other sounds were made with her mouth closed, ie. humming. She would not make an "AH" sound, only a "HM" sound. Still, she was able to get her needs met by us because we responded to her gestures for this and that. The counselor suggested we take a hard approach and deny her everything she wanted until she could ask us for it herself, (excluding life support,like food of course). Gradually we took away all her toys, every book, and by the third week, she had nothing, not even a pencil. We even took away her woobie (security blanket). She still managed to keep up her spirits and entertain herself. It was positively frustrating! The counselor was amazed at the will of such a small child. One night, in frustration, I took a drive and contemplated going into oncoming traffic. While I was gone, my husband worked on our daughter. Painful as it was, he put his finger between her front teeth and managed to get her to make the "ah' sound. This broke the silence. I got home and heard her voice and thought I was dreaming. I grabbed the video camera and on it you can see and hear her say, "no more medicine!" It was then that we realized it was the forcing of her to "open up" and take the medicine (that she hated) to cause her silence. As I said, I kept a journal and have video and pictures she drew during this painful time. If it can be useful to the foundation, I would gladly share it if it could help anyone going through this.Thankfully there was an end to all our pain and she has not had a moment of silence since. Added: June 15, 1999
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Belinda DeCicco From: New Jersey Website: E-mail: SDec102103@aol.com	I have a 6 year old with SM for 2 years now. I also know of another child in our town with SM she to is 6 I an wondering if we should get them together we have avoided this be cause we thought it would provide reinforcment for the lack of speaking but Im beginning to think that If they didnt feel so alone it might be easier. Can anybody give me any insight on the idea. Also when if ever do we tell our children they have SM and explain it to them? Belinda Added: June 15, 1999
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Jeannemarie Diane Sunday From: Florida Website: E-mail: Sandboxsandy@Hotmail.com	I would like to get any information on Selective Mutism that you could recommend to me. I suspect my daughter may have this. It is like a light went on when I read your site. She quit talking about the age or 3 or 4 and is terribly afraid of loud noises. She will not talk to her grandparents or uncle or other members of the family. It has been very embarrasing. People do not understand. She talks to me and her dad and brothers. She has a few friends at school who she will talk to. She is currently taking Effexor but I don't feel it is very effective. I am wondering about Prozac. She suffers from anxiety. I myself am a manic depressive. She has two brothers one who we suspect suffered from Tourette's syndrome. The other has anger management problems. My husband also suffers from depression due to a back problem. Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you Sandboxsandy@Hotmail.com Added: June 15, 1999
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John Boesen From: Website: E-mail: TeamEHA@usa.net	I happened upon the ABC News program 20/20 while the segment was airing on Selective Mutism. As a Graphoanalyst and Personal Coach, I was interested because of the personality traits mentioned about the people suffering from SM. I would be very interested in seeing handwriting samples from people diagnosed with SM. If there is any way I can be of service, I would be pleased to provide it. Thanks. Added: June 16, 1999
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Suzanne From: Pennsylvania Website: E-mail: LSJJJHill@AOL.com	Just watched Connie Chung's special on 20/20 tonight re: selective mutism. I couldn't believe how much I could relate to this with my 6 year old daughter. I am very interested in finding out as much as possible about this to help her. It's funny, school's just out for the summer and I'm already not looking forward to the next school year and having to go through all those anxieties all over again with a new teacher and new students. I'll be researching this all summer to prepare for the new school year. Suggestions appreciated! Added: June 16, 1999
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susan white From: Website: E-mail: getheard@interport.net	Just saw the 20/20 show and finally learned that my daughter's "condition" has a name! What a relief! She's a wonderful 6 year old girl, who speaks with me and her dad, grandma, and some of her friends' moms. She's been labelled as austistic (by a terrible PreK teacher), as having special needs, etc. I have trusted my instincts all along and thought that her non-verbal behavior was so much a choice, and anxiety-driven. I've tried to be very supportive of all her efforts, and enrolled her in programs with other kids -- dancing, arts & crafts, etc. -- and never pushed her to do something she doesn't want to do. Nice to know I'm on the right track...luckily she has a great Kindergarten teacher who hasn't labelled her, and has worked very hard to praise all her progress. Anyone live in the NYC area? I would love to hear from other SM moms in my area. Added: June 14, 1999
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wilmas@bellsouth.net From: Jacksonville, FL Website: E-mail: wilmas@bellsouth.net	Everything that I have read explains my daughter. I was watching 20/20 tonite and I was just amazed. The things that the children on there is the same as what my daughter is going through. The school system here in Duval County is horrible. My daughter has been labeled as an EMH (Trainable Emotional Handicapp). I am very horrified about this title, many people that I have talked to which 2 of them are teachers have told me to get her out of that class. My daughter is taking speech thearpy in school but doesn't seem to help her. My insurance which is HMO or her fathers which is Tricare (Military) would not pay for her speech thearpy for a private thearpist. The only thing that we have that will pay is her Medicaid which I am so thankful for. She now has a wonderful Speech Thearpist which I love. She goes twice a week for 30 mins and has done better than her everyday session for 15 mins at school. We have also been told that she is at an age level of a 4 year old. My daughter is 10 years old and is going into the 5 th grade. How is she supposed to cope going to Junior High after next year? I am going to go and make an appointment with her Doctor on the Military Base and hopefully he has heard of Selective Mutism. If anyone out there has any suggestions for me please let me know. Thank you Wilma Stanley Added: June 14, 1999

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