Is your child too afraid to talk in social situations? Selective mutism, a severe anxiety disorder, is not just shyness – how 2 girls overcame it

‘I would have things to say but I was so afraid to say them aloud for fear of being laughed at,’ says one woman on having selective mutism as a child

A psychologist’s new book on selective mutism is a tool to help parents understand this anxiety disorder, and help young people with it feel empowered

Reading Time:4 minutes

Selective mutism is an anxiety disorder, usually in children, for which people fall silent when they are in stressful situations. With time and effort, it can be overcome, says one expert based in Hong Kong. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 1:15pm, 25 Sep 2022

At her high school graduation, Livvy Kramer stood up and addressed the whole school. It was a speech that made her parents proud and Livvy marvel at how far she had come: as a child she had selective mutism, a severe anxiety disorder that leaves a person unable to speak in certain social situations.

Growing up in her native New York, Livvy was close to her parents, had a big personality at home and a handful of good friends. But, when she went to kindergarten, she fell silent.

“In a group setting, it was very hard for me to vocalise my thoughts. I would have things to say but I was so afraid to say them aloud for fear of being laughed at and judged,” says Livvy, speaking from Atlanta, in the US state of Georgia, where she is in her first year at Emory University.

“I physically felt anxious about saying a simple sentence in a group setting. My parents struggled for a long time to understand this because there was so little out there about it,” she says.

As a child, Livvy Kramer had selective mutism. Photo: Livvy Kramer

They met Dr Melissa Giglio – then an associate psychologist at the Child Mind Institute in New York – and she began working with Livvy when she was seven, helping her to get more comfortable about speaking in different public settings.

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