ABSTRACT

This chapter looks at information from parents and schools. It discusses the online resource library includes several forms to supplement the areas. There is much to recommend meeting or speaking to the parents first, without the referred child or teenager being present. This allows freedom for discussion away from an already self-conscious child. It also enables the parents to express their concerns fully without exacerbating the problem. It is often through starting school, playgroup or nursery that a child's mutism comes to light. School represents a major threat to most young children who have selective mutism (SM). The child and parents have to separate; it is a large, strange place and it is full of unfamiliar people. Online checklist will help parents and school staff to identify the factors which have a role in maintaining the child's SM. Again, this could be used as a basis for discussion with a clinician.