Selective Mutism
Question
My 14 year old daughter with CdLS is fully able to carry on an intelligent conversation. She will talk with other children but never adults (not even relatives).
Answer of our experts
It appears that your daughter is exhibiting behavior that can be described as selective mutism. In other words, she talks to other children but selects to not talk to adults. It is often assumed that anxiety underlies the behavior of selective mutism and treatment is frequently carried out by psychotherapists. Following an evaluation, the treatment process usually involves reinforcement of successive approximations toward the desired behavior. Remediation may take from 6 months to over two years
MG/TK 7-13-10
Recommendation(s)
Adaptive behaviour in CdLS