A 5-Year-Old Girl Will Only Talk With Family Members And Is Silent In School. What Could Be Going On?
Dr. John Walkup answers the question: 'How To Deal With A Silent 5-Year-Old?'
— -- Question: A 5-year-old girl will only talk with family members and is silent in school. What could be going on? How does a parent address this type of situation? Who can a parent go to for advice?
Answer: When I hear about a 5-year-old who is not talking at school but will talk with family at home, I'm a little bit more concerned about this youngster as there's a group of kids at this age range who really don't speak outside the home.
The term that we use in child psychiatry and child psychology is selective mutism. There are also some children who have milder forms of selective mutism who just speak infrequently or speak at low volume in the school setting. These are youngsters who really can benefit from treatment.
So again, I recommend that moms and dads, who have a youngster who speaks infrequently or low volumes in school or social situations but speaks normally at home, that they talk with their pediatrician about this problem and they will likely be recommended to pursue some kind of mental health intervention to help that youngster overcome their social anxiety and become more comfortable speaking in these more public forums.
