Should my child with SM have his/her speech/language tested?
According to research done at the SMart Center,
YES, every child with SM should have a baseline S/L evaluation.
According the
National Institute of Health (NIH Publication No. 00-4781), “Speech
and language are tools that humans use to communicate or share
thoughts, ideas, and emotions. Language is the set of rules, shared
by the individuals who are communicating, that allows them to
exchange those thoughts, ideas, or emotions. Speech is talking, one
way that a language can be expressed.”
As our
research is showing (SMRI),
a percentage of children with SM have subtle S/L difficulties that
are often missed since parents are not aware of these difficulties
in predictable
environments such as the home and when comfortable.
In social settings, where anxiety is often higher,
language demands are also higher. In such environments, such
as school and public settings, we are finding that children with SM
are prone to having subtle language abnormalities, such as deficits
in their narrative skills. In such environments, these
children may speak, but they speak in 1-2 or few words and often
have difficulty 'explaining' or having elaborate conversations with
teachers/peers, extended family members, etc.
Therefore, as part of the
initial consultation at the Selective Mutism Anxiety and Research Treatment Center, your child will be offered
(optional) a baseline assessment, full report on S/L, and follow-up
testing to help determine their speech and language abilities.
A certified speech-language pathologist, who has been trained at
the SMart Center in testing children with SM, will guide the testing
along with you, the parent or caregiver, to determine how your child
uses speech
(articulation
– sound production;
prosody -intonation and rhythm of speech) and
language (morphology
- word formation; syntax
- sentence formation;
semantics - word and sentence meaning; and
pragmatics -
effective use of language for different functions).
Therefore, Although your child may be able to speak in the home
environment with specific people, it is important to assess all
aspects of communication to determine if higher level language
formulation issues are a problem requiring treatment.
This information is important to establishing appropriate goals
in the treatment of selective mutism.
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