ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at examples of children and young people who have received treatment for selective mutism (SM). It includes a wide range of ages, some with SM alone and some with additional difficulties. Their management illustrates the ideas from the manual, under the headings: Background, Assessment, Intervention and Outcome. The keyworker couldn't believe what a difference it made to take the pressure off and play games that required non-verbal communication. Adam a speech and language therapist (SLT) started to progress once family and playgroup had a shared understanding of the nature of his difficulties. The emotional involvement of the specialist teacher was higher than expected and frustrations were sometimes difficult to rationalise. Having two members of staff involved to share the load and discuss every stage was, therefore, extremely valuable.
