Selective Mutism In Special Education

There are critical gaps regarding SM children in the classroom in research literature and studies. The difference is due to a limited number of observations of how SM children interact in the home environment, kindergarten and upper grades (Omdal, 2014). Indeed, there has been no comparison of how the SM child communicates in various settings nor have observations documented how the family interacts with an SM child (Omdal, 2014). In addition, researchers and health care physicians argue about the classification and treatment methods of SM children (Omdal, 2014). The two groups of professionals appear to be more inclined to create their method of determining an assessment and planning the treatment. Also, SM is considered a low incidence condition. Consequently, due to the labeling of a low-incidence state, agencies that would typically help do not have the expertise to provide needed advice (Omdal, 2014).

Therefore, unanswered questions regarding interventions that are most effective to treat SM in a classroom setting are almost nil among researchers. Furthermore, due to the lack of research concerning this issue, SM children are placed in special education classes that prove detrimental to this disorder. As a result, it is vital that more is learned about Selective Mutism in the environment of learning, so appropriate strategies are executed in the classroom. To accomplish this task, guidelines and strategies that close this gap in research are needed to address unanswered questions concerning treatment and interventions in the school (Krysanski, 2003; & Shippon-Blum, et al.,