TEACHING A SELECTIVE MUTE TO READ
One of the hardest and best things I have ever done is teach a selective mute to read, while working in a kindergarten classroom 2012-2013. Selective mutism is a clinically-recognized anxiety disorder in which a child who can speak stops speaking, usually in school or social settings.
To protect the privacy of my student, I will call her Chantal, a name that means song. When I visited the school last month, I watched Chantal sing and dance to ‘This Little Light of Mine’ with the other kindergarten children. Although she continues to be challenged by anxiety in a school setting, teachers tell me that she occasionally makes herself heard—and will stand up for herself in the cafeteria line!
For various reasons outside my control, Chantal was not receiving any professional help for her anxiety disorder. I was not {am not} a professional, but did research on selective mutism and drew on my ample experience with children. I was grateful for the fact that I’d already taught someone to read, using the same material I was using with Chantal {Sing, Spell, Read and Write by Sue Dickson}.
I quickly learned in our trial tutoring session that I would be working from scratch. With the strange exception of the letter W, Chantal did not know any letter names or sounds. She could not count past three and could not identify any numerals—let alone add and subtract with the rest of the class.
Teachers and administrators scrambled to get a diagnosis for learning disability, but the mother refused testing and I agreed with her. It was apparent to me that Chantal had a quick intelligence; the tests and assessments gave her a failing score not because she failed to comprehend the material, but because she was utterly unable to respond.
{I was with her for a mid-year assessment after tutoring her some months, and it was painful to watch that crippling anxiety. I breathed a sigh of relief when we left the room, but she was tense the rest of the day.}
I was so busy preparing materials for teaching Chantal, doing other work for the classroom, and trying to keep on top of my own studies and projects, that I didn’t have time to document the process of teaching Chantal. I wish I had! I hope sometime to record further reflections and observations from this challenging and rewarding experience of teaching a selective mute to read.
In the meantime, I hope you can benefit from this hodgepodge of excerpts from my journal and personal emails.
email dated November 27, 2012
The child I am currently tutoring would appear to have selective mutism... as well as learning delays, and it has been a challenge to plan activities that I hope will eventually make her comfortable enough to speak and learn. I have been encouraged by the progress she has already made.
journal entry dated January 30, 2013
Last week, for the first time, I heard Chantal laugh as other little children laugh—loud and free. She was especially quiet that day, and I tickled her to get the words ‘unstuck’—a game that seems to relax her enough to speak a little more. Still, she seemed more anxious than has become usual for her in the times that we can work alone together. She has progressed normally in her phonics and number-work, but the other children still do not know that Chantal can speak.
The little progress we have made together is so slow, it is easy to miss; but notes from an early tutoring session remind me how much more comfortable she is now than in the first sadly silent days and weeks.
‘Chantal was very quiet... though she smiled [a very hard, tight smile] during our phonics songs, and sounded out some of the letters when I asked her to join me for those we’ve done together... She is very distracted and nervous whenever anyone enters the room, and will not resume work or answer questions until the other person [one of her teachers] leaves again... She answers my questions with a gesture {a nod, or by holding up fingers to show how many}, or, if necessary, with one or two [very quiet] words. She will not answer questions otherwise.’
She meets my eyes gladly now, though shyly; her body is relaxed; her smiles are frequent and relaxed; she has started to laugh—at first a startling monosyllabic ‘HA!’ and now an actual giggle. She still does not offer any speech, but will usually answer questions readily in a word or two or three; she is not nearly as nervous when answering my questions {specifically, I think, about making a mistake}. She will continue similarly even when one of her teachers {but only they} enter the room.
journal entry dated February 6, 2013
After two discouraging sessions with Chantal, I had two that were immensely encouraging. The first thing I noticed about her last Thursday was that she looked pretty[...] I kept looking at her to discover why[...] Her face was COMPLETELY relaxed! Her speech remains minimal, but her face is stripped as of a mask, from all traceable anxiety and fear and nervousness. She really looks like a little girl now, instead of a little, pinched gnome. I remain hands-off, quiet and patient—but I am excited enough to scream!
journal entry dated April 6, 2013
The children are saying that Chantal talks more often now. I am so happy with the progress she has made, and continues to make.
email dated April 15, 2013
My tutoring student made another exciting development last week. She learned the fun of making mistakes on purpose. :-S She would circle a number she knew was wrong, smile at the impossibility of it, erase it, circle another wrong number, give me a cheeky look, erase it, and circle the right number. She did this for e-v-e-r-y problem on the page. I enjoyed seeing her comfortable enough with her knowledge to play with it. That she knew the answers were wrong and could see the humor of it, is such a contrast to her previous freezing fear of making a mistake and not even trying. And I am bumping up the difficulty of our math work, so she doesn't feel the need to make it more interesting. ;-)
All that patient, cheerful guiding/ repetition/ answering my own questions {even when I wanted to cry} is paying off. In the beginning, I had the intuition to cheerfully accept her silence, but was sometimes afraid I was crippling instead of helping her. When I did research on selective mutism my approach was affirmed. There were still times I felt a little silly, like I was talking to myself. :-) But now the children tell me that she talks on the playground more often. For the first time, last week, she said ‘goodbye’ to me after our tutoring session. I was flabbergasted. And so happy. She hasn’t said anything to me since {except to tersely answer school-related questions, as usual}, but now and then she will surprise both of us.
By the time the school year came to a close, Chantal had begun reading {I was so sorry to have to stop at that point!} and was adding and subtracting with real understanding and aplomb. She was retained in kindergarten according to the original plan of the parents and school; and when I returned for a short time the following year, her new teacher told me that Chantal attacked her schoolwork with experienced ease.
This intelligent little girl who was afraid to speak would hold up her worksheet in class and say, ‘I’m done!’
• This is a selection of the materials I used to teach Chantal phonics and colors. We also did number-work together. •
April 4, 2014