Selective Mutism education and treatment.

What We Can Do to Help Your Child

If your child has been recently diagnoised with selective mutism or your current school does not meet your child's special needs please contact us. Montgomery Academy is equipped to appeal to the more unconventional student by offering a more unconventional format in which to learn. While we do use textbooks and employ the more traditional styles of teaching, these are not the only, nor the primary, means of educating. Whenever and wherever possible hands-on, experiential techniques are used. Building models, dioramas, exploring the campus environment, role playing, field trips, cooking, and other hands on methods are used regularly. Our classrooms and halls reflect what is being studied, drawings, murals, reports and projects are all proudly displayed.

Treatment Options

Stimulus fading

In this technique the patient is brought into a controlled environment with someone with whom they are at ease and can communicate. Gradually another person is introduced into the situation involving a number of small steps.

These steps are often done in separate stages in which case it is called the sliding-in technique, where a new person is slid into the talking group. This can take a relatively long time for the first one or two faded-in people.

Desensitization

The subject is allowed to communicate via indirect means to prepare them mentally for the next step. This might include email, instant messaging (either text, audio, and/or video), or online chat, until they are in a position to try more direct communication.

Shaping

The child is slowly encouraged to speak. The child is reinforced first for interacting nonverbally, then making certain sounds, then saying a word or more. Audio recordings are also made of the child speaking easily to desensitize the child to hearing his or her voice.

What is Selective Mutism?

Selective mutism (SM) is a severe childhood anxiety disorder in which a person who is normally capable of speech is unable to speak in given situations, or to specific people. Children and adults with the disorder are fully capable of speech and understanding language, but can fail to speak in certain social situations when it is expected of them. They function normally in other areas of behavior and learning, though appear withdrawn and some are unable to participate in group activities. As an example, a child may be completely silent at school, for years at a time, but speak quite freely or even excessively at home.

What are the symtoms?

* Consistent failure to speak in specific social situations (in which there is an expectation for speaking, e.g., at school) despite speaking in other situations.
* The disturbance interferes with educational or occupational achievement or with social communication.
* The duration of the disturbance is at least 1 month (not limited to the first month of school).
* The failure to speak is not due to a lack of knowledge of, or comfort with, the spoken language required in the social situation.
* The disturbance is not better accounted for by a communication disorder (e.g., stuttering) and does not occur exclusively during the course of a pervasive developmental disorder, schizophrenia, or other psychotic disorder.

Though we follow New Jersey’s Core Content Curriculum Standards, we are able to remain creative and flexible in our approaches to the subject matter. Please read about our programs.

• Instructional Programs
• Transitional Programs
• Therapeutic Programs
• Guidance Counseling
• Summer Programs

Our holistic, custom-tailored, arts and technology rich approach uses innovative hands-on teaching methods delivered with sensitivity in small, dynamic classrooms on a serene mountain top in pastoral Mendham Township.

Come and see how we can help your son or daughter realize their unique potential in an atmosphere of trust and security that promotes self reliance and a love of lifelong learning.