Being Brave with Selective Mutism by Rachel Busman

Author:Rachel Busman [Busman, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Published: 2023-05-18T00:00:00+00:00

Let’s talk about a few of these situations and then come up with a plan for them. Then, you can use the plan to map out how to tackle the rest of the things on the list.

Answering questions from teachers

Teachers ask a lot of questions and that makes sense. Besides asking questions about what you are learning, they ask about all kinds of other things too. It’s fair to say that being able to answer your teacher is something worth working on because teachers ask questions pretty much all the time. It may not be easy, but it’s a good goal to work on for a few reasons. One reason is that if you can answer a question from your teacher, then you are well on your way to more success in the classroom. You will be more able to participate in a variety of important activities once you are able to communicate verbally with your teacher(s).

This part of the plan requires that the teacher is aware that there is a plan in the first place. If you have a therapist or someone you work with at school like a social worker or psychologist, letting them help you would be a great idea. If you don’t have one of those people, that’s not a problem—your caregiver can speak to the teacher and help them get on board with the plan. Once the teacher knows what your goal is, then they will be better able to help you achieve it.

We need to figure out where to start. Do you think that the first time your teacher asks you a question, it should be a hard one in front of the whole class? If you thought, “Um, no way!” I happen to agree with you. That would be too hard in my opinion. Why? It’s too many things at once: it’s in front of everyone, it’s a hard question, and it’s the first time you are practicing.

I recommend having your caregiver reach out to your teacher and plan when to ask the question and what the question should be. That way, we are setting the stage for success by controlling as much as possible. For example, the teacher could ask you what you had for breakfast that morning, and you could practice that question with your caregiver before the teacher asks you. That’s the what. For the when it might be best if the teacher asked you a question when no one else is in the classroom or at least when you are not the center of attention. It’s not impossible, but it takes a plan.

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